Medical doctors in Ondo State have begun an indefinite strike to press home their demands from the state government.
The doctors under the auspices of the National Association of Government and General Medical and Dental Practitioners said it embarked on the strike following the inability of the state government to pay their five months salary arrears.
In a letter addressed to the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, on Tuesday, the medical doctors said the strike would not be suspended until all their outstanding arrears were settled by their employer.
The letter was signed by the acting chairman and secretary of the association, Dr. Ismaila Busari and Dr. Ademola Edungbola, respectively after the meeting of the association held in Akure, the state capital.
The association noted that the elders in the medical profession in the state had intervened in the matter by interfacing with the state government, but their intervention had not yielded any positive result.
The letter read, “The issues extensively discussed at the meeting and subsequently the congress resolved that the suspended withdrawal of services should be resumed immediately.
“That the withdrawal of services shall not be further reviewed until all outstanding arrears are fully paid.
“We must put it on record that the failure of the government to have kept to her part of the agreement necessitated the reactivation of the suspended strike.”
The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, appealed to the striking workers to embrace dialogue with the state government in the interest of the people of the state. He said the crisis would soon be resolved.
He said, “We all know that services of the doctor are very essential in the state, so we shall continue to appeal to them. It will soon be resolved. “
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