A public affairs analyst, Mr Achike Jide, has urged the federal government to respond to yearnings of health workers in the country and avoid crisis in the health sector.
The public affairs analyst who spoke on the backdrop of ongoing strike by National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) said that government should take welfare of doctors seriously.
He said: “It’s something of extreme importance so it would be expected that the government would do everything to ensure that they respond to the yearnings of these workers (but) obviously that has not happened”.
He also said the government should not play with lives of people.
Jide said that there should be no rot in the country’s health sector adding that the government should invest heavily in the health sector.
He challenged the federal government to have political will to solve the crisis in the health sector.
He said that the government should take steps to address the challenges in health sector and avert the braindrain where doctors would leave for countries overseas.
He also said that the crisis in the sector should be regarded as national emergency saying the government should be sensitive to the needs of those in the sector.
The analyst said doctors should be happy enough to work and not be frustrated.
He said although he would not justify any strike steps should be taken to address the needs of resident doctors and prevent them from leaving the country.
“We are pleading with the government to take care of these people (doctors) so that they can take better care of us,” he said.
The National Association of Resident Doctors had gone on strike across the country on August 2.
Some of their demands include the payment of Covid-19 inducement allowances and medical and life insurance for frontline medical doctors among others.
Resident doctors make up bulk of healthcare workers in government hospitals across the country.
In August the National Industrial Court had asked resident doctors to suspend its ongoing strike and go back to work.
The order was made following an application by the government for the court to adjudicate on the matter.
The judge of the Abuja Division of the court had asked both the National Association of Resident Doctors and the government to suspend hostilities and maintain status quo.
But in a ruling in September by Justice Bashir Alkali the court held resident doctors must return to work to save lives.
But the association threatened to appeal against the ruling and asked its members to remain calm.
Jide who aired his opinion as guest on 92.3 Nigeria Info in Port-Harcourt said that much money should be pumped into the health sector which is critical to Nigerians.
He said that the government should show more commitment and not blackmail the resident doctors.
