In order to save lives in line with the oath they swore to, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) faction, led by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, has urged the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to call off the ongoing strike embarked upon by resident doctors.

The doctors have been on strike since July 1, 2014 to press home their demand for the immediate passage of the National Health Bill, appointment of a Surgeon-General of the Federation, the payment of N100,000 hazard allowance for medical doctors and the skipping of Grade Level 12 by medical and dental practitioners.

In order to save lives in line with the oath they swore to, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) faction, led by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, has urged the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to call off the ongoing strike embarked upon by resident doctors.

The doctors have been on strike since July 1, 2014 to press home their demand for the immediate passage of the National Health Bill, appointment of a Surgeon-General of the Federation, the payment of N100,000 hazard allowance for medical doctors and the skipping of Grade Level 12 by medical and dental practitioners.

According to a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend by the Secretary of the Forum, Mr Osaro Onaiwu, the governors called on the leadership of the NMA to remember “their Hippocratic oath,” noting that the strike has become”devastating the lives of the poor in our nation, who can only afford medical care in government owned medical facilities.”

The statement reminded the striking doctors that their friends and families were not immune from the effects of the strike “as anybody can fall ill or be involved in an emergency at anytime and anywhere in the country.”

The governors therefore called on the doctors to end the strike on humanitarian grounds, and thereafter engage in honest dialogue with the Federal Government “in order to stop the pain and suffering meted on Nigerians by their action.”

In a related development, a group pressing for a second tenure for President Goodluck Jonathan and good governance in Nigeria, known as Goodluck Initiative For Transformation (GIFT), has called on doctors to call off their strike on humanitarian grounds.

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Jang’s NGF faction plead with doctors to end strike