Doctors Strike: Arewa Youth, COSEG Appeal For Understanding
As the strike embarked upon by Lagos doctors enters the fifth day today, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF and the Oodua Self Determination Groups, COSEG, have called for understanding between the doctors and the government.
Speaking with P.M.NEWS, President of AYCF, Mallam Yerima Shettima said the striking doctors should have exercised patience to see the plans the government had for them in the newly signed budget.
According to him, the doctors’ action would appear preemptive of government plans for all the sectors of the economy. “Governor Fashola is surely mindful of the importance of health care delivery in the lives of his people and will not likely toy with it,†he stated.
In their own reaction to the strike by the doctors, COSEG appealed to them to be cautious and reminded them that the governor had assured that the newly signed budget would accommodate the promised increment in salaries across all the sectors.
The President and General Secretary of the group, Dayo Ogunlana and Rasaq Oloko Oba, respectively, said since the budget, which is the official document of implementation of the increment, was only signed last Thursday, the doctors should have waited for its implementation before embarking on strike.
The group described as curious the latest action of the doctors and appealed to them to think of the importance of their profession to human existence. ”Information has it that their last strike resulted in avoidable number of casualties,†COSEG added.
To prevent such from repeating itself, the coalition urged the striking doctors to reason with Governor Babatunde Fashola, SAN, who needs time to implement the newly signed budget.
COSEG appealed to the doctors as well as leaders of all other sectors to tarry a while and allow the governor puts all the necessary mechanism in place to implement the budget, adding that all the parties involved will smile soon.
—Jamiu Yisa
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