 And you are welcome back and we are going to hit the ground running like we always do on this next segment. We'll talk about the health sector and the National Association of Resident Doctors, the strike that was just called off and all of that. So resident doctors who work at the Abia State University of Teaching Hospital are owed 20 months salary. You heard that right. It's true. They say 11 of those 20 months are under the government of Governor Ocasio-Piazzo, while nine months are under the previous government. The doctors are now demanding to be paid. They've already met with the state government and got a commitment that 11 months salary, salaries will be offset soon, which is why the president of the National Association of Resident Doctors in Abia State, Dr. Kingsley Nguyen-Muay-Muay is joining us this morning. Doctor, thank you for joining us. Thank you. So it's mind-blowing 20 months. Let's start from the beginning. Right. How have your members been surviving without salaries? Okay. On a very good day, it has been a very hard time for the resident doctors in Abia State Teaching Hospital because of the 20 months salary being owed to them by the Abia State government. It has not been easy because most of them find it difficult to feed, find it difficult to transport, they seem to work because they are willing to work. That's why they be working to this period, you know, the accumulation of that salary. There are most of the resident doctors, also finding it difficult to register for exam to go for West African College or National Postgraduate College exams. So it has not been easy for us to survive, but we thank God at least we are alive today and managing while waiting for the governor to do his own facts. Okay. I want to, you know, go back to, you know, when we say 20 months, in there's a letter that also was put out that I read between your body and the current governor of Abia State, Tokizek Pazou, that stated that he has, he currently owes 11 months. The previous administration in Abia State owed you guys nine-month salaries. When did this start and why exactly did your salaries stop coming in? Before, of course, Tokizek Pazou came in and continued with the same non-payment of salaries. When did it start? Okay. Actually, the former governor, Senator Teoji, was owing the institution some months of salary before he left. Then on the assumption of office by the current governor, Tokizek Pazou, he paid some money, almost, I think, 11 months or so when the Paris fund was given to them by the present government, by the federal government. So he paid some money to assist the institution to place some of the salary areas. But unfortunately, as time went on, he started owing us, then saying that he was going to pay, that he has other things while waiting for money to come, that the money he used to get is not what he gets almost at the end of the month from the federal government. So I think that was where he started owing us. Let me understand. You said he made some payments when he came in. Does that mean he offset the debts that Teoji left or was there more? Because you just mentioned 11 months. Yes, he paid, he paid, he was owing some months too when he came in. But he paid up to, I think, 11 months, you know. So from the meeting we had with him last Thursday, he made us to understand that all the money he paid was during his own administration and not during, not for Teoji, the night most inherited. So that was the clarification he gave us. All right. Well, it's not a very, very good story. And I feel really bad for, you know, doctors in Nabiya state. But let's also talk about the NERD strike that has just been suspended. How do you feel about that being national body of the NERD doctor? Of course, the president, we spoke with him, Dr. Uilawa, who said that they have agreed and they have gotten promises from the federal government and they will be suspended in the strike. How do you feel that that strike has been called off while you're still old 20 months salary? Okay. We thank our national presidents because he sends delegates to absolute, you know, to other states to interact with the, with the, with the governor of other states. Okay. Including the former NERD president because that day he was having a meeting, you know, with the representative of the House of Assembly. So when we had the, the call off, he told us that we should still continue on the strike, you know, based on the negotiation on the agreement the governor made with them that day, that he's going to want, you know, within 10 days he's going to grant some money for re-acquired session of residency training in that new station. Then within 20 days he's going to study the medical residency training act of 2017 and see possible implementation of that act in other states. So he also told them that day that he's going to start paying monthly starting from April 2021. So that was, then when he gets money he will start paying the, the, the areas, you know, so that the money he's getting is not enough for him to carry all the things out. So when we had the, it was suspended, well, we felt, we felt there is a reason, because the reason they gave us was that they want to give further government time and the state government time within one month so that we enable them to pay all the money they are owing to their members and also to solve the problems of the, of the association. So the government requested one month which they granted, you know, so that's the situation sir. No, there's something you said that caught my attention that the governor said if he gets monies, that's when he's going to start paying the backlog. Right. If you look at the front page of the punch today, we saw this headline states face cash crunch salaries, swallow revenues that's coming from the state governor. So if he doesn't get money, what happens? Franklin speaking, it will be, it will be a very hard situation for us. The governor is a, is a loving governor and we feel that he should, he should know the flights we are in because we have cried unto him. We have met the, the, the, before this time, we have written several letters to him, you know, saying our plight and also the, with the intervention of the national body, which will be agreed, you made some promises. I think you will, you will keep to his promises. All right. Well, there's expectations from the federal government to keep to similar promises. And you've also mentioned that the state government, you know, you expect that they will keep to their promises. You know, so we hope that, you know, these things actually happen, like you said, but it, it might be a little stretch, you know, if he's saying that he's going to pay salaries from April, is there any money that you feel that the state government is expecting that would change the finances of, of the state from April? Okay, sir. You know, he is the governor of the states. So he knows how he gets money to run the states. I may not be in the, in the, in the best situation to say how he gets money, but for him to make a promise to the non-leadership, the delegates is, you know, that means he's expecting some money somewhere that will enable him, you know, start solving our problem. So I can't say exactly that this is the source where he's getting the money from. Yeah. And how does this also affect other medical workers in Abia state? Is it just resident doctors now that, you know, old salaries? No, the whole, the whole health workers, the old workers, too, in other states are being owed the same salary because once the money comes, everybody receives his own salary. We just, um, um, yesterday, uh, yes, what did yesterday, uh, today? So on Tuesday, we just got one salary on Tuesday. For which month? We got one more salary. So that money was everybody, all the health workers got, uh, their own salary. So it's not only the resident doctors that are being owed, every health worker, they are passing through the same, um, problems we are facing. Okay. So the picture you're painting here is it doesn't look good at all. So I would like to ask, apart from salaries, do you train your members to try to survive on, you know, um, some others, I don't know, apart from the work they do on the salaries they expect, is there any other way they can try to survive without, uh, waiting for salaries? Um, on a, on a very good note, there is no other work I know of their being because they are resident doctors. So they keep managing the, the, the patients that come into the hospital, the consultants will see the, the, the patients along with them. Then after that, the resident doctors will continue to follow up the patients or the patient gets where, or the patient is being discharged. So I think they are committed to their work. That is why they have been coming to the hospital all along, you know, to this period of time. So how they survive, I think is, is the grace of God. What would you say happens if these promises are not fulfilled, uh, uh, promises made by the Abia state governor, um, to, of course, pay from the month of April. What, what happens next? I think the, the institution will still be on strike because they don't have any money to transport themselves. I'll speak to you now. Many of them have been complaining that they don't have money to transports to come to school there to, to come to work. And also most of them have to complain in that, um, their house friends has inspired and you know, they don't have money to do other to send their children to school. So I think it's going to be a hard problem. It's going to be hardship on our own parts. You know, but we don't pray that the governor will allow this to happen again, because, um, from the assurance this is gay, he gave the non-leadership. He said it in front of the horrible commissioner for health, then the, uh, assistant, um, uh, uh, the special advisor on health of other states and other people there. So we are just believing his ways being our father that is going to look into our problem because if he, if he, if he allows it to, to escalate, it's going to be a big problem for us. We won't even have money to eat, talk later, coming to work. And our patients will, will suffer it most. All right. Dr. Kingsley, we will thank you very much for speaking with us this morning. Thank you sir. All right. I'm not sure about, you know, the, um, the governor being, you know, our father part, you know, um, salaries need to be paid, father or no father, grandfather, uncle, whoever it is to, you know, the state, um, people need to earn their wages and they need to be paid it. You know, you can't, old doctors and it really just brings a picture of how serious, you know, they, you know, they, they place healthcare in Abia state. If you were all resident doctors for 20 months, how exactly do your health, you know, is the health system in Abia state functioning? And what, what does the, the governor really mean? And I hope that we can bring in a representative from the government, um, the Abia state government to speak on this. What does the government really mean by there's no money currently to pay, you know, salaries and from April, they, you know, might have some money. So if there wasn't the Paris club refund, uh, back then, like he stated, it means that they wouldn't be paid salaries. Yeah. Oh, if there's no, uh, help from the federal government, how do they call it, uh, bill out, bill out funds and all of that. It's absolutely no sense. Yeah. And so, you know, being a father or, you know, grandfather or godfather, whichever one you want to describe him as, he's still the executive governor of Abia state and salaries still need to be paid. Father, mother, auntie, uncle, whoever he is. Oh, you have an issue with that? Yes. I don't, I personally don't like when, you know, you, you reach out and say, well, the father of the state and some of all of that, you know, what is, what is wrong is wrong and what is right is right. What, you know, the responsibilities of a governor are, you know, they, all these things, you know, are part of the responsibilities to ensure that the state generates enough IGR and if you can't be a governor and ensure that your state can fund itself and function at, you know, as a, as a state, then what are you doing there? It makes absolutely no sense. In what ways has the internal generator revenue of Abia state increased in the last couple of years for you to be able to pay your workers? You know, and if you can't say that in the last two, three, four years, this is how we've increased IGR. This is, these are the new things that we're investing in. This is how we have paid our teachers and our health workers and our security agents and whatever. Then what are you doing there? Oh, this is the way we are trying to cutting, we are trying to cut cost. It is, why are they not looking at that angle to cut cost of governance and all of that? Reduce their aides and all. All right, we'll take a short break when we come back. More of these conversations here on the breakfast. Good morning.