The Federal Government has been urged by the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to implement the agreement on salary increase to ensure doctors do not leave the country anymore.
This followed the recent reports that in 2023, the association had given the Federal Government till 31 January 2024, to meet its demands or risk industrial action in the health sector.
The Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association, Benjamin Olowojebutu, said, the association was committed to the agreement during the meeting in Abuja, and failure to honour it could lead to a nationwide strike.
In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Benjamin stated that this was not the right time for a strike and that the government should act on what had been agreed.
He said, “I speak as NMA chairman of the Lagos State chapter. This is the directive of NMA national. However, we are all committed to this and the next decision we made during a meeting in Abuja is strike. Hopefully, we pray that does not happen. If there is no increase in salary, we will go on a nationwide strike. We pray that this will not happen because this is not the right time”.
