Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf has called on the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to suspend its strike action, adding that their action could endanger the lives of over 20 million Kano residents depending on them for medical attention.
Yusuf made the call during a joint live broadcast with selected radio journalists in Kano on Thursday.
TheFact Daily gathered that the NMA had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the state government to dismiss the State’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs for allegedly assaulting a female doctor at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital or embark on strike if their demand was not met.
The governor assured the NMA that the report from the investigative panel probing the case was on his desk, awaiting immediate action and urged them to rethink their decision:
“As I speak, the report is already on my table, and I will act on it immediately.
“I am aware of many instances where planned industrial actions by the NMA were shelved due to the mutual respect and good relationship between the doctors and the Kano State government. The NMA knows that this government values the welfare of doctors,” the governor stated.
“As I speak, the report is already on my table, and I will act on it immediately.
“But if they now feel no one can talk to them, and their only next action is a strike, they should consider the lives of 20 million residents who could be put at risk over a disagreement between two individuals,” he said.
The governor further appealed to the striking doctors to consider the impact on vulnerable patients, including pregnant women awaiting delivery, and to call off the strike in the interest of public health.
He also assured that any official found culpable in the incident would face appropriate sanctions.
