27th April, 2012
The African Renaissance Party (ARP), Lagos State chapter, on Thursday pleaded with the Lagos State Government and striking medical doctors to reach a compromise.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Medical Guild on Wednesday embarked on an indefinite strike as a result of queries issued to some of its members by the government.
The queries issued to the doctors by various hospitals and the Health Service Commission was in fulfilment of the government’s decision to challenge what it termed the “illegal” three-day warning strike they embarked upon from April 11.
The doctors had gone on the warning strike on grounds that the state government had failed to implement a downward review of excessive taxation and pay them the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale Structure (CONMESS).
In a statement in Lagos, the state Chairman of the ARP, Mr. Udoka Udeogaranya, stressed the need to urgently end the tug of war between the parties in the interest of the citizens.
“While it pleases the eyes to have a state adorned with the state of the art facilities in beautification, it cannot be more important than ensuring that Lagosians have an affordable healthcare delivery system,” Udeogaranya stated.
He said that the high cost of living in Lagos State had made private medical institutions in the state a no-go-area for the poor, in comparison to the heavily subsidised government healthcare outlets.
According to Udeogaranya, the doctors’ strike had once again highlighted the need for the state government to prioritise its governance and place policies relating to human welfare first.
“While a worker is entitled to his wages, we particularly plead with the state medical guild members to take into account the predicament of the poor health seekers in the state and call off the strike while negotiating.
“It is time for both the Lagos State Government and the medical guild to do that which they would prefer not, for the sake of the dying patients in the state,” he stated.