Mirian Gom 
ONDO, Nigeria – Medical doctors in Ondo State warn that the state’s healthcare system is nearing collapse as worsening manpower shortages, poor welfare conditions and ageing infrastructure continue to cripple public hospitals.
The doctors, under the umbrella of the Nigerian Medical Association and affiliated groups, threaten industrial action if the state government fails to address their demands within seven days.
Speaking in Akure on Tuesday, Ondo NMA Chairman Abel Alonge says the number of doctors in the state has dropped by nearly 50 per cent over the past 12 years despite rapid population growth.
“Today, the doctor-to-population ratio in the state is about 1 to 6,200 people,” Alonge says. “That is the worst in the entire South-West.”
He adds that many hospitals now operate with one doctor or none at all, forcing exhausted health workers to handle overwhelming patient loads without adequate support.
Alonge also criticises the state government’s recent recruitment exercise, arguing that retired doctors and house officers cannot solve the worsening manpower crisis.
Healthcare leaders further accuse the state of offering the poorest salaries for medical workers in the South-West region, triggering an exodus of doctors to neighbouring states including Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti and Osun.
Chairman of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria in Ondo State, Stephen Adewole, says poor pay and difficult working conditions continue to drive doctors away from public service.
Association of Resident Doctors President Kehinde Olagbe warns that doctors are working under unsafe and unbearable conditions.
The health workers demand immediate implementation of federal salary adjustments, improved welfare packages, urgent recruitment and rehabilitation of health facilities across the state.
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