Poor Welfare: Akwa Ibom Doctors Issue A 21 Day Strike Warning

Medical Doctors in Akwa Ibom state under the auspices of The Nigerian Medical Association NMA have issued a 21 day warning to the management of The University of Uyo to embark on an industrial action on  issues bothering on emoluments and welfare.

In an interaction with Newsmen after an emergency meeting of the association at Doctors’ Mess, Udoudoma Avenue, Uyo recently, the Chairman of the Association, Dr Aniekan Peter said that their decision was a last resort as their earlier demands to the management of Uniuyo proved abortive.

A communique at the end of the meeting signed by the chairman, Dr. Peter, and the Assistant Secretary, Dr. Unyime Ndoh, decried the insensitivity of The management of the institition to the core issues of health services and the welfare of medical practitioners in the institution.

MMA claimed that this attitude contributes to the brain drain of medical practitioners to countries such as The US, Canada, UK and Saudi Arabia.

According to Peter, some of the issues in dispute include the non implementation of migration of medical doctors who lecture in the University to the  Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) in line with the approval of the University of Uyo Governing Council,” he said that the computed arrears have not been paid since 2016 as done in other universities that migrated medical doctors to CONMESS.”

“There is grossly inadequate medical lecturers and medical officers at the Health Centre working in the University. This has caused immense stress and excess and unnecessary workload on our members.

“There is a protracted delay in the promotion of some medical lecturers with concurrent loss of remuneration especially at this time of hardship in the country and mass exodus of medical doctors.

“Medical lecturers are still being owed three months and a half salary, which was withheld during the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike of 2022. Congress noted that management contributed to the non-payment of medical lecturers by refusing to sign letters to the minister as requested, even as other medical schools had been paid.” The statement continued.

Other demands includes that:

“The University management should, as a matter of urgent necessity, employ lecturers in Medical programmes in the University as well as medical doctors in the University of Uyo Health Centre.

“The immediate promotion of due Medical lecturers in the University without further delay with payment of promotion arrears to all medical lecturers. The immediate payment of outstanding three and a half month salaries to medical lecturers.”