Calling for better working conditions, doctors in public hospitals went on a five-day strike on Wednesday, knowing that resident doctors constitute the major part of the medical staff in Nigerian public hospitals.
Despite the impact of the strike on public health as many patients have stopped receiving medical treatment, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Innocent Orji said the strike was inevitable and became necessary in response to the government’s refusal to increase salaries and pay arrears owed to several doctors.
Mr. Orji told the press that the doctors had already threatened in April to go on strike in the absence of a positive initiative or call for negotiations from the government, in a context marked by the economic crisis in Nigeria.
In the same context, Mr. Orji noted that they have not been called for talks with the government, but rather “threats”, while adding that the strike could be extended if negotiations do not improve with the government.
For his part, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the doctors’ demands were “absurd”, adding that the government had gone to considerable trouble to meet their demands.
This type of strike is very common in Nigeria, given the lack of funding for the public health sector, while the country is considered the largest economy in Africa and the first oil producer and therefore must have significant revenues.