Lagos doctors protest non-payment of salaries

Doctors in the employment of the Lagos state government on Friday staged a peaceful protest over alleged non-payment of their salaries for two months.

The doctors, under the aegis of the Medical Guild Association, also demanded an end to the employment of doctors as casual workers, alleged victimisation and the non-employment of resident doctors.

The protest, which lasted for about an hour, took place at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

Biyi Ikufo, the chairman of the guild, warned that the doctors would resort to strike if the government does not meet their demands.

“We want the government to pay those withheld salaries of August and September, 2014 and to stop employing doctors as casual workers, an act that has been on since 2012,” he said.

“These workers have no career path; they can be dismissed at the slightest notice, and we want the government to resume training of specialists at LASUTH.

“They are no longer employing doctors for specialist training; in a few years, there will no longer be specialists to render services to Lagosians.”

Ikufo said the doctors used the protest as an avenue to bring the issues to the notice of the public in the hope that the government would listen.

“Whenever we go on strike, the people who suffer are members of the public. That is the why we are bringing this protest to the public space,” he said.

“We did this in the hope that, this time, things will change.”

Oseni Saliu, the vice-chairman of the guild, said doctors would continue to fight for their rights, and urged the members of the public to appeal to the government to meet their demands.

“We are ready to render services to our people; we are not ready for anybody to subjugate us; we will fight for our rights,” he said.

“If the government continues to push us and there is a need for an action, we will take the action.”

On his part, Abdusalam Moruf, the president, Association of Resident Doctors, LASUTH chapter, said residency training programme at the hospital had been on hold since 2011.

“LASUTH has been turned into a general hospital because resident doctors are not being employed, and as such, no one is graduating to become a consultant,” Moruf said.

“There is also a reduction in the specialist manpower of the society.

“Diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke and some complex surgeries that need specialist attention will no longer be adequately treated because there are not enough specialists to handle them.”

He urged the government to comply with their demands.