Governor Dapo Abiodun:

Adejoke Adeleye, Abeokuta

The governor Ogun, Prince Dapo Abiodun has expressed disappointment over the decision by Resident Doctors in Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu to go on indefinite strike despite efforts being made to tackle their complaints over the shortage of staff in the institution.

The governor, who expressed his feeling in his office at Okemosan, Abeokuta when he received the report of the administrative panel to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, headed by Dr. Yemi Onabowale, said he is quite surprised that the doctors decided to embark on an industrial strike without due consultation with government mess.

He said that his administration took up the initiative of restoring the glory of the institution and even recently approved the appointment of 82 resident doctors and other medical staffs, adding that it was not the actions of the doctors that led to the announcement of the recruitment, but an interim report he had received from the committee to go ahead with the recruitment.

” I was quite relieved when we received an interim recommendation that we should commence the recruitment of medical personnel, amongst which are the resident doctors that we have being agitating for, so, we were quite received that the go ahead was from you and that was why we did not waste time in its implementation.

” I understand that unfortunately, the announcement of that recommendation from you was carried out around the same time when the doctors themselves had commenced a strike action which is most unfortunate, because it now appeared as if it was their action that generated our reaction which is not the case, the committee had recommended to us a day before the resident doctors embarked on their strike action,” he said.

He noted that his administration would not allow anyone, any group of persons to hold government or its people to ransom under any guise, adding that he was hoping to see the resident doctors have a change of heart and call off their industrial action to tend to their primary responsibility of saving lives, as government was poised to continue to listen to their plight and take the institution meant to be a breading ground for doctors back to its glory days.

The helmsman further said that his administration wasn’t just concerned about the plight of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, but was also concerned about all other tertiary health institutions across the state.

Abiodun noted that it was important to find a way to encourage the people to patronize the Primary Health Centers and instill in them the confidence that their facility of first choice must be Primary Health Centers,adding that government must find a way to fund the centers and the entire sector value chain.

“We must find a way to instill confidence in our people to reassure them that the facility of first choice should be a Primary Health Care Center, this will also allow us gather data of the people that live in the immediate environment of the health care centers.

“So we must also find a way to fund them,we must find a sustainable way of funding the Primary Health Centers and funding the entire sector value chain,” he said.

Earlier in his response, the chairman of the administrative panel to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Yemi Onabowale, thanked the governor for giving them the opportunity to contribute their quota to the overall development of the once highly rated teaching hospital, saying that the committee appreciates the governor for approving the immediate appointment of 82 resident doctors and other medical personnel for the teaching hospital.

Onabowale commended the staffs of the teaching for their commitment to work despite the neglect they had suffered over the years, adding that the committee is confident the future of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital is bright if their recommendations were fully implemented.

The Administrative Panel to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital had Dr. Folabi Ogunlesi, Dr. Kehinde Ololade, Alhaji Wasiu Lawal, Prince Femi Akinwunmi, Mr. Olumide Obube and Mr. Akinola Adekunle as members,while Dr. Solomon Sokunbi served as the Secretary.