OYO, Nigeria – Doctors in Oyo State have begun a seven-day warning strike over unresolved welfare, salary and recruitment demands, disrupting services at several government hospitals.
Members of the Association of Medical and Dental Officers of Oyo State (AMDO) commenced the industrial action at midnight on Monday, with the union directing members to attend to emergencies and refer patients requiring further treatment to appropriate facilities.
Checks by Africa Health Report indicated that medical services were affected at several facilities in Ibadan. At Ring Road State Hospital, staff attended to emergency patients, while doctors were reportedly absent from their usual duties at Government Chest Hospital and Jericho Specialist Hospital. At Oni Memorial Children Hospital, only a few medical students were seen attending to children.
AMDO chairman, Dr Solomon Olaoye, said the strike followed a resolution at the association’s emergency general meeting on Sunday. He said the warning strike would end at 11.59 p.m. on Sunday, adding that previous ultimatums issued on 21 September and 12 October had failed to resolve the dispute despite engagements with relevant government offices.
The association’s demands include the implementation of professional and accoutrement allowances, approval of its salary-skipping policy and adjustments to salary grades for medical officers and consultants.
The doctors are also seeking a 10 per cent responsibility allowance for non-specialist doctors heading government health institutions, the restoration of salaries for transferred doctors and recruitment to address staff shortages. Other demands include inducement and retention allowances, each equivalent to 100 per cent of basic salary.
“We also demand recruitment of Medical and Dental Officers to address manpower shortages and implementation of inducement and retention allowances, each at 100 per cent of basic salary,” Olaoye said.
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