It appears that the Lagos state doctors are not bothered by the sack letters issued to them on Monday by the state Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. According to the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, “Lagos state is behaving like a 17th century emperor, and such an emperor in 21st century cannot survive.”
“Forget about this sack, we have gone through this place before, This is a de javu. We are not moved. The person who wrote the sack letters will find a reason to withdraw the sack letter later, ” said Edamisan Temiye, chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State.
At the end of the medical doctors’ congress, Monday, in Lagos, the NMA resolved to set up an ‘Elders Committee’ to meet with the Lagos State government.
“The reaction of Lagos State government to that meeting, what comes out of that meeting will definitely decide the next line of action we are going to take,” said Dr. Temisan.
The association also set up a disciplinary committee to “discipline” medical doctors who are “fighting the battle” from the government side of the divide such as Jide Idris, the state commissioner for Health and Ore Falomo, Chairman of Lagos State Medical Advisory Committee,
“We have set up a disciplinary committee to deal with those doctors who are causing problems for us,” Dr. Temisan said.
As the strike entered its 14th day on Monday, both the Lagos State government and the doctors refused to shift grounds on their demands. The doctors insisted that the state government must implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) among other demands while the state said it would no longer pay any “fees imposed” by the federal government.
The doctors faulted the government’s moves to recruit new doctors as well as employ ‘locum’ doctors – employing doctors on contract basis saying “Lagos State wants to casualize medical profession…It is an insult to the profession, and we hope that no doctor will fall prey to that because if you fall prey, they will regret it.”
