Kogi doctors resume strike, say ‘Bello has refused to meet our demands’

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi has directed its members to resume a strike they suspended two weeks ago.
The association said in a statement after an emergency congress in Lokoja on Saturday that the resumption of the strike was informed by Governor Yahaya Bello’s alleged failure to fulfil his promises to meet their demands.
Dr Godwin Tijani, the chairman of the association in Kogi, said the decision was for the entire doctors to resume strike since their demands were being ignored by the governor.
According to him, the state government has failed to honour the agreement in spite of its assurance after the stakeholders’ intervention.
“It is really unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this mess. We respected all the stakeholders who wanted the progress of the Kogi health sector, but the government is putting deaf ears into our demands.
“We have had several promises of salary alerts for the past one week without success;  consequently, the Kogi NMA hereby directs all its members to resume strike as from 12 a.m on  June 5, 2017,’’ Tijani stated.
The doctors’ demands include reinstatement and payment of the salaries and arrears of doctors employed in 2015 and correction and payment of arrears of doctors underpaid, among others.
NMA had earlier suspended its 11-day old strike on May 13 to give room for dialogue with state government.