President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday urged medical doctors across the country to call off their strike industrial action for the sake of Nigerians who critically need their services.
President Buhari, who made the call when he received members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, also asked those contemplating strike to choose amicable settlement of all grievances instead.
Buhari, according to his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, noted that doctors striking at a time when the country is struggling to find its way out of a pandemic is not a good decision, the nature of grievances notwithstanding.
“The lives of citizens that could be lost or damaged when doctors withdraw services, are precious enough to be worth opting for peaceful resolution of differences,” the president was quoted as saying.
He added: “Protecting our citizens is not to be left to government alone, but taken as a collective responsibility, in which especially medical professionals play a critical role. Let me speak directly to the striking doctors. Embarking on industrial action at this time when Nigerians need you most is not the best action to take, no matter the grievances.
“This administration has a good track record of paying all debts owed to government workers, pensioners and contractors and we have even revisited debts left by past administrations, once due verification is done. Debts genuinely owed Health workers will be settled.”
