Doctors’ strike: FG insists on No-Work-No-Pay policy

*Denies threatening to sack resident doctors

*Rules out fresh lockdown despite surge in COVID-19 cases

*Challenges citizens on third wave of Coronavirus

Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja

The Federal Government has said that doctors embarking on strike at a time when the country is dealing with the effect of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, cholera outbreak in 22 states and Marburg virus (similar to Ebola) outbreak was not only dangerous but unconscionable.

Speaking during the 18th ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, appealed to the striking resident doctors to reconsider their action.

However, he insisted that the Federal Government will apply the International Labour Organisation’s policy of “No Work, No Pay”, if the doctors continued with the strike, stressing that they will not be paid from tax payers for doing nothing.

Furthermore, he denied the allegation that he threatened to sack resident doctors who withdrew their services nationwide since August 2, over alleged poor conditions of service, explaining that all the engagements and consultations so far have been to appeal to them to call off the strike.

Despite threats by senior doctors working as Consultants in the health sector to join the strike in the coming week, the minister said that majority of the demands being raised by the striking doctors were either met by the government or within the jurisdiction of state governments.

“We have been having long meetings with young doctors to tell them that look, we have a certain responsibility to our country. Every country that has a difficult situation at this time should understand that the responsibility is on all of us. If you have any problem, any grudge let’s talk about it. If we can’t solve it now, let’s continue talking about it until we find solution but don’t drop work.

“I think Nigeria is probably the only country in the world today where doctors are dropping work in the middle of a threat to the whole country. So that’s what we have advised. There has been no threat. Nobody threatened anything. We are just appealing, all of us are doctors, all of us went through the same residency.

“We’re saying this is not the time, let’s continue to talk about it. Do not put people’s lives at risk. That’s what the Minister of Labour has been saying, that is what the Minister of Health has been saying. Nobody has threatened anybody with anything.

Responding to threats of enforcing No-Work-No-Pay policy, the minister said: “Yes, but that’s a standard thing. That’s International Labour Organisation, ILO, recommendation that if you did not work, then why will you take…your salary comes from taxpayers money.

“So if you did not work, why should you be paid? Because if that is so you can be encouraged to stay at home for six months and your salary is running from public funds, from tax payers money, when you have not given the community any service.

“So, no work, no pay is not just the government regulation it is recommended, it is specifically stated in the International Labour Organisation that if you do not work, if you have not given any service, you can’t expect regulation.

“Because you can’t go to the market and buy something for nothing. You must put down something, you must put down work.

“You cannot go to the market and take goods without paying. So if you work, you will be paid. And we are strongly in support of government meeting its obligations to pay what is agreed. We have said that we shall push for that. We are working with the salaries and wages commission, the head of service, we are working to support that including paying all the insurance dues.

“But we cannot go against what the ILO says, pay people that did not go to work. I mean, I think before God and man you can defend that position, but there is no question of threats. These young doctors are professionals, not just professionals, they are young people who we need to also mentor and treat well, to the best of all our capacity here.

“So, the strike is not what we want now, we would like to again, use this platform to ask doctors to return to work, let us negotiate. We can do that among us. There are many areas the Ministry of Health supports them.

“But part of the problem we have is that some of the grudges that they have, or let us say the demands are with state governments not the federal government. So if the state government has not paid some people salary, why go on nationwide strike?

“We say if you want to talk to that state, I will support you and appeal to the state. Among the 12 original demands that they made, seven were state related. They’re not federal, federal government cannot compel a state to pay you a certain salary that you want.

“But the ones that are concerning us at federal level, many of them are not even exactly the Ministry of Health either. But we support them and those with what strike is not a good tool to use. And especially when the health of the country is threatened, when people will come out and volunteer in other countries to work. That is not the time to withdraw your own service.

“And I think again, we’ll continue to appeal to young doctors not to use strike as a tool, especially at a time of national need that will not rest well on your conscience.”

Meanwhile, as the third wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage countries around the world, the Federal Government said on Thursday that it is not considering the possibility of a second lockdown in the country.

Speaking during the 18th edition of the weekly ministerial press briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said despite the presence of the Delta variant of coronavirus in the country, Nigeria was not at the level of threat.

Ehanire said that countries have been a bit circumspect in the decision to impose total lockdowns as was seen at the beginning of the outbreak last year.

He added that administrators would rather employ precision lockdowns on specific areas of the country that have come under threat.

The Minister further disclosed that apart from the vaccines sourced free of charge, Nigeria has paid for about 30 million doses of Johnson & Johnson doses.

He explained that since the prices of the one-shot vaccine has dropped, the country hopes to purchase about 40 million doses of the vaccines in all.

Ehanire said the 176,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson doses have already been received while the remainder will come in batches.

He assured that the majority of vaccines used in the country will be bought by government rather than depending on those gifted to it by other countries.

The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, noted that the cases of COVID-19 recently sequenced in Nigeria are Delta variant, which he said had made it the dominant variant in the country.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said 2.3 percent of eligible Nigerians have been vaccinated.

Also, the Federal Government says the ravaging third wave Delta variant of COVID-19 can be defeated if all citizens play their part in the fight against the pandemic.

Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, led by Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

According to him, if everybody plays his/her role, such efforts put in by individuals and organisations will complement the national response by government.

He said: “If we work together, not only government, it also has to do with citizens, agencies and not the least, the media, we do have a good chance of scaling through this COVID-19 third wave threat.

“I want to thank all Nigerians for the support and participation so far, which has made this battle controllable.

“The successful implementation of the non-pharmaceutical interventions and public health measures since we started this vaccination and since this epidemic came in remains very important.

“Therefore, everyone has a role to play; government, citizens, media, partners, nongovernmental organisations, community based organisations, civil society organisations, traditional rulers, political leaders and community leaders all have a role to play in this collective effort.”

While giving the current status of the disease in the country, he said as at August 11, the number of confirmed cases stood at over 179, 000.

“As at the August 11, 2021, the government of Nigeria has confirmed the following statistics which by now may have changed a little bit; that the total number of confirmed cases is 179, 118, active cases are 10,783.

“The number of discharged cases, 166,144 and sadly the number of fatalities is 2194.

“So we have declared that Nigeria is officially in the 3rd wave of COVID-19 pandemic and as you know, it has already spread in many parts of the world mostly in India where it was first recognized spreading to other parts of the world and also Africa, including West Africa,” he said.

According to the minister, cases of the virus have started to rise since several weeks, saying there have been an increase in fatalities recorded in the past four weeks.

“Currently, the states that have the highest contribution to the national case load of COVID-19 are Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“These are the ones we have called the red alert states because they require extra attention to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in those places.”

Ehanire said Nigeria was concerned about the Delta variant because “it is more transmissible and dangerous’’.