By OLADELE ADEDAYO, Ado-Ekiti.
Medical Doctors in the employ of Ekiti State Government have been assured of their dues and welfare.
The State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose gave the assurance in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital while playing host to members and executive of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
In a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, the governor also said his administration would not renege on its promise to pay Hazard Allowance to medical doctors in state hospitals.
Tentative figure of the amount the state would spend on the allowance monthly was put at about N20 million.
However, the governor said the issue of medical doctors serving in local government-owned medical facilities would be borne by the councils, since they had been given autonomy.
He added that council chairmen would decide on that when they hold their allocation meeting.
Governor Fayose, while pleading with the doctors to exercise patience, promised that as soon as the economic situation of the state could accommodate the payment, the money would be paid.
In his remarks, the Ekiti State Chairman of the NMA, Dr. Sunday Omoya, commended the governor for his support during the burial of some of their colleagues some months ago.
“We want to appreciate you for what you have been doing for us. Your support during the burial of some of our colleagues was tremendous. We also held the National Executive Council meeting of our association,you were there for us. It was during your first term that you sent some of our colleagues on specialist training and they were the first set of consultants that Ekiti hospitals had.
“Your efforts also ensured the accreditation of 14 courses at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti and the General Hospital,Ikere-Ekiti for horsemanship training. The employment opportunities you created at the Hospitals Management Board and the handling of the outbreak of Lassa Fever are also commendable and we sincerely appreciate you sir,”he said.
Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Medical Director of EKSUTH, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, said the governor’s efforts had led to unprecedented growth of the hospital.
He said apart from accreditation of 14 courses within the last one year, the School of Nursing and the School of Midwifery recorded 100 percent success in their external examinations.
While pledging to put in more efforts, the doctors said they would soon embark on a free health mission in collaboration with some of their foreign colleagues as a way of giving back to the society too.
