Doctors in Lagos State, under the
aegis of Medical Guild, said the new minimum wage of N35,000 implemented by the
Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration is ‘peanuts’.
Dr Babajide Saheed, Chairman of
the Guild, said doctors have rejected the new minimum wage as it is below the
expectations of civil servants
Saheed made the doctors’ decision
known on Monday at a media briefing on the Scientific Conference scheduled to
hold on Dec. 3 and 4 in Lagos.
The Medical Guild is the
association of doctors under the employment of the Lagos State Government.
Saheed said that not only was the
new minimum wage unacceptable, the Guild was not part of the negotiations which
was communicated to government, adding that it was still awaiting response.
“You cannot be talking about our
salary when we are not there; and when workers started receiving their salaries
over the weekend, they were disappointed and unhappy.
“Not only the doctors, generally,
all the civil servants, because the increment was unimaginable and short of
expectations.
“The problem we have identified
is high taxation.
“No matter the amount of
increment in the minimum wage, which makes the gross high, but the take home
after tax reductions is peanuts.
“Government should look at that
issue and let workers have the benefits of the new minimum wage, and we hope
that the state government will listen,” he said.
Saheed called for the exemption
of tax on call duty paid to doctors, saying it would lighten the tax burden on
members of the Guild, as was the practice during the administration of former
Gov. Bola Tinubu.
He also called for a review in
the retirement age of medical doctors to 65 years, adding that the same had
been done for teachers.
The chairman said that to address
issues of shortage of medical personnel, exit replacement of staff should be
done in phases, with about 25 per cent done by the end of 2019.
According to him, the remaining
75 per cent should be done before the end of the first quarter 2020.
“This is to reduce the pressure
of physical and mental exertion on health workers,” Saheed said.
He said that improvement in
welfare of workers would stem the current brain drain affecting the sector.
Saheed said that incentives like
car and housing loans would help to boost morale in the health sector.
Also, Dr Saliu Oseni, Lagos State
Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), urged the public to treat
health workers with respect.
Oseni said that government should
be held responsible and accountable for problems of service delivery in the
health sector and not the workers.
He also appealed to the Nigerian
Police to desist from harassing and arresting medical doctors over deaths of
patients, saying the issue might discourage doctors from treating patients if
not stopped.
Mr Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, Director,
Public Affairs Department, the state Ministry of Health, declined to react on
the position of the doctors.
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