By Fatima Mohammed Lawal
Ilorin – The Chief Medical Director of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) Ilorin, Prof. Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, has called on doctors in the hospital to suspend strike.
Olatinwo, who spoke on Saturday in Ilorin, urged them to lead the way in the area of change in the nation’s health sector.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the doctors have embarked on indefinite strike over allegations of using wrong scale of payment to pay their allowances.
Olatinwo, who described moral obligation to duty as a necessity for medical practice, said mundane issues should be subsumed under dedication to duties in compliance with the change mantra of this administration.
“It is in the interest of the oath they pledged allegiance to at the point of their initiation into the medical profession,’’ he said.
He commended other categories of doctors and other health workers at the UITH for keeping the system moving.
Olatinwo also urged the striking doctors to resume work “in the interest of the patients and the need for us all to support the policies of government.’’
Reacting to the development, the local Chairman of National Association of Resident Doctors UITH chapter, Dr Ade Faponle, urged the authority to upgrade the scale of payment for the doctors in line with those of other teaching hospitals.
He said: “The strike will continue indefinitely. We should be properly placed in the correct salary scale.’’(NAN)
FATY/ESAN/KAY
=============
(Edited by Abiodun Esan, Kayode Olaitan)