Doctors in Ondo State, under the auspices of the Nigeria Medical Association, the Ondo State branch, have called on the state government to improve their welfare, saying they were suffering under the present working conditions.

The medical doctors urged the government to implement two key Federal Government circulars that affect their salaries and welfare, as had been done in other states of the federation for almost a year.

The chairman of the Ondo NMA, Dr Muyiwa Alonge, made the call in a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday.

The statement read, “For months, the Ondo State Government has not implemented two key Federal Government circulars that affect our salaries and welfare – the first is Circular SWC/S/04/S.218/IV/876 of 19th November 2025 on the Consequential Adjustment of Salaries, the second is Circular SWC/S/04/S.218/III/572 of 26th July 2025 on Accoutrement Allowance.

” These are not new requests. They are our entitlements. Our colleagues at the Federal level and in many other states have been enjoying these benefits for almost a year. In Ondo State, it’s unfortunate that we are also still owed our 2024 promotion allowance, and no new doctors or health workers have been employed to replace those who left.”

Alonge noted that many doctors had left the state following japa syndrome, while the remaining ones in the service were overloaded with work, yet the government had not taken their welfare seriously

According to him, the association had made efforts to engage in dialogue with the government on the matter, but had received no positive response.

“Because of the ‘Japa Syndrome, too many doctors have left the system. Those of us remaining now do the work of five people. Doctors in the state service no longer have a life of their own. They have no time for their families and no time for further professional growth, as they are confined to providing services, sometimes permanently, at their workplace in situations where there is only one doctor in a whole General Hospital. These doctors overwork.

“They are often made to use obsolete equipment to provide healthcare to the good people of Ondo state. In many instances, this equipment does not even exist, and these doctors would have to improvise to ensure healthcare is still provided. We work daily in dilapidated environments that do not befit our status as doctors, yet we are paid under an old salary structure that cannot keep pace with today’s cost of living. Our members are stressed, exhausted, demoralized, and overworked.

“We have made several efforts to ensure the Government attends to our request. Ondo NMA presented a carefully prepared position paper that could be a useful document for revitalising the moribund state of health care, but there is no evidence that this is being implemented. We wrote to the Government on 24th November 2025, 2nd December 2025, and 8th January 2026 with respect to these circulars. We held several meetings with His Excellency, Dr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and other key government officials. We appealed. Nothing has changed.”

In a specific term, the NMA appealed to the government for “immediate implementation of the consequential adjustment of salaries and the payment of all its arrears from the effective date as provided by the circular, payment of the accoutrement allowance without further delay.”

The group also demanded payment of all outstanding 2024 promotional allowances and the urgent commencement of recruitment of doctors and other health workers to ease the workload.

In response to the government’s failure to meet the demand, the NMA threatened to take industrial action against the government.

“We are giving the government until Tuesday, 28th April 2026, to act. If nothing is done, the NMA will call an Emergency Congress to decide on our next lawful steps, which may include withdrawing services. Let me say this plainly to our people: We do not want to go on strike. When doctors strike, the people suffer. But the truth is that people are already suffering because the system has become very fragile and is collapsing. We cannot keep quiet while our members break down (as it often happens) and our hospitals become empty.

“We believe the governor means well for this state. We are asking him to show it now by implementing what the Federal Government has already approved and taking other urgent steps to revitalise the health sector. The time for dialogue is ending. The time for action is now,” the statement concluded. (The PUNCH)

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