The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has described as unacceptable, the sack order given to 788 doctors by the Lagos State government, led by?? Governor Babatunde Fashola , calling on him to reverse it.
In a telephone interview with LEADERSHIP yesterday, the NMA president, Dr Osahon Enabulele, who said he was in Lagos with his executive members to attend to the situation, said the association does not support the action taken by the Lagos government.
Calling instead for dialogue, he noted that there was need for negotiation, so that an amicable settlement could be reached and the matter put behind both parties.
Enabulele said, “Health is a development issue and without it, you cannot drive good governance and without it, you cannot develop the economy.”
The NMA president said the association would create the opportunity and engage the state government to come to terms with the current system on how to drive the health sector.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, while justifying the action of the government said, “The bottom line is that you have people who entered the civil service under specific rules and regulations. The state government reserves the right to evolve policies for all civil services but once you allow people to behave the way they like, there will be chaos and disaster.”
Idris who acknowledged that the sack was not an end to strike in the health sector, added that everybody had the right to strike while the government also had the right to sack.
He said: “What we are addressing now is the emergency services. We have the responsibility of providing healthcare and that is our priority now. The hospitals are not totally paralysed as some doctors are still working. We still have over 1,000 doctors in service, including the new ones.
“As at yesterday, the new doctors had their orientation and are currently being deployed to the various hospitals,” he stated.