FG warns newly inducted doctors against strike

The federal government has warned the newly inducted medical graduates not to join medical doctors in the country when they are going on strikes.

Apparently reacting to a fresh threat by the doctors to embark on strike over unfulfilled promises, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, described the industrial disharmony between the government and doctors as ”incessant”.

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Ngige, who spoke in Abuja during the weekend at the induction ceremony of six medical graduates of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) into the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), said it is not good for the newly inducted doctors to join any strike.

The minister, whose son, Andrew Ngige, was among the inductees, told them to be of good behaviour and uphold the highest ethical standards while carrying out their duties.

According to Charles Akpan, the spokesman of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, in a statement, Ngige charged the new doctors to abstain from any conduct which is capable of bringing their esteemed profession to disrepute.

“I am a medical doctor. One of you being inducted here is my second son. My first son is a medical doctor. My daughter is also a medical doctor. By virtue of ethics, our oath as doctors is to save lives. That is our primary duty.

“If doctors go on strike, people die. That is the truth. Human life is irreplaceable. How do you bring back people who have died as a result of doctors not being at their duty posts?

“It is unethical for doctors to embark on strike. I have said it so many times in the past and I will continue to say it.

“Doctors should not go on strike. Therefore, you should desist from joining strikes in the interest of humanity and our noble profession,” Ngige was quoted to have said.

Speaking earlier, the Registrar of MDCN, Tajudeen Sanusi, told the inductees that they were ethically bound to do certain things as medical doctors, warning that anything contrary to that would attract the hammer of the council.