 Welcome back it's time for our first hot topic and we want to take a look at the rejection of 25,000 naira quarterly allocation given to resident doctors in Nigeria by the federal government and the strike is ongoing already and they are saying there's no going back on this strike we're going on indefinitely until government gives us our demands which we gave during the ultimatum that we gave the government. We have been joined by Dr. Kaleb Ikuri, President Association of Resident Doctors Cross River State. Good morning to you Dr. Ikuri. Thank you. Good morning. Actually the President of Association of Resident Doctors University of Calabas teaching in hospital Calabas Cross River State. Thank you very much. Good morning my host. So talk to us about this development give us what we need to know with the latest developments since the strike and this offer that your association is rejected. Thank you very much. Actually on the 26th of July 2023 the Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors Command is mentioned like we are indefinite strike following the aspiration of our ultimatum that was given to government on the 5th of July 2023 and we met on the 21st of July and of course decided to go on this indefinite strike and of course from the 24th to 29th of July we were here in Lagos in last and the Lagos and State University hospital for our statutory national executive council meeting our next meeting so it was at the end of the next meeting that we had some observation and the observation one of them of course let me just try to get to know the observation so that we observe the avoidable strike that commenced in Nigeria since the 26th of July 2023 and we also observed the attempt by women in Nigeria to Nigerians to solve the issues of course and we also saw the slow wheel of progress by government in implementing our demands which are taking years and even months while I would say implementation of course and we observed that the circular for one-on-one replacement which was promised to us since 5th of June in or even towards the last days of the previous regime have not been settled our 2023 medical residency training fund you know have not been paid up till now even though it was captured in the 2023 and our budget of Nigeria and we also observed that the areas of salaries areas of them consequential adjustment of adjustment of minimum which go to our members the promotional areas for a member of the medical officers in several and tertiary institution have not been paid we also observed the downgrading by the medical and the council of Nigeria of our membership and certificates and then of course and one of the things was there was what and is our topic this morning where the national salaries income and wages commission release a secular you know the government is the has approved 25% quarterly allowance or what is called a countrymen allowance and also 25% increase for our business salary and of course we also observed in that meeting about the casualization of doctors in the federal tertiary health institution across the country and of course again we observed the resistance of his security especially in cross river state and Colaba in particular where a professor of neurology in the department of internal medicine the best of Colaba teaching hospital was kidnapped from a house and is over two weeks now in fact it's starting the 18th 17 of the 18th in terms of her doctors and they have no release and of course and finally we observed the before they also have that in the state tertiary institution some states are going doctors up to 24 months salary like in the state the salaries are still being owed and of course the general issue of a brain drain our severe brain drain which I've mentioned as the no release of the one-on-one secular and then of course even generally the hardship Nigerians are going through in the following the removal of force of city and the recent hype in the prices of the premium motor spirit coming on as a true so that is it is just one of the 25% is just one of those several things that aboriginals and wish we have nothing seen well thank you I don't even know how to begin to to fatum the marriage of yes and then 24 months for doctors to be owed you know I'm thinking about when I'm hungry I don't see clearly and then someone has to go do operation someone has to be a hungry doctor I can't just imagine but now let's just begin with what we're talking about today mostly what were you asking for the government has given you 25% quarterly allowance or something and a raise 25% raise in your salary what is the doctors or what are the doctors asking for that the government is not giving I gave you a thousand yes we're just calculating if it is but he said 25% not 25% then there is a 25,000 Naira quarterly is that is that what it translates to 8,300 Naira month about that yeah so he's asking what exactly is a dog I remember what I asked for 550% increment so he's asking what's the stance now what are you asking is any shift not well as a station of resident doctors and national body we as at the 17th of July 22 we wrote to government you know asking for 200% increase which of course have not been overtaken by event where we say 550 and all that you know you people need to know that we're not just calling an amount obituary we know what we are talking about because we are only trying to reverse the salary to what it was as a 2014 which was supposed to be reviewed after 5 years but it has taken 10 years and have not been reviewed so that we are talking of when you put it in a private passion with the price of where the cost of living the cost of living taxes and everything Nigeria we're only trying to go back to what we were so as not as not as such a shunt of resident doctors we have asked for a 200 percent and of course we shall be overtaken by then with the current and price and increment in fear and of course the other allowance we they call a countrymen like money given for clothes or equipment is even laughing because we are asking for several allowance even we even specified what is called specialist allowance especially for the seniors with the senior registrars in our mis-discrimination that on the great residency training and all the equipment allowance so to come and give 25,000 naira and what you have translated to the amount you mentioned for a month is quite laughable well you doctors have described it as a portraits sum I don't know if the government is willing to ship ground from the 25% increment in salary and the 25,000 special allocation that they've given to you but the thing now is that you see when two elephants fight as we know it is the grass that suffers the Nigerians who will not have their doctors in hospitals and clinics are the ones that are going to be at the brunt of this and you as your association has said this is indefinite what are we looking at here how is this going to pan out what next and I asked for the ordinary Nigerians I asked for Nigerians okay so I'm asking because the government has said this is what we are going to give and the doctors are saying we are not accepting it so it's two elephants fighting and the grass is suffering the masses who will not have their doctors in hospitals in their clinics what next what are we looking at how's it going to pan out any ideas well thank you hope you can hear me yes you know what if if the patients at the grass is I want to also say the machines have suffered and the machine cannot even cut again or even the glass cannot cut those glasses again and we can authentically tell you that doctors are driving due to this severe breathing drain people are living in the country because of this hardship and even what the search was made is mainly because of this poor and remuneration and of course the poor working environment that is in this country so we are left so few and we are overworked so you should understand that the gross the grass cutting machine is even more affected than the grass as we're talking to you now you can no longer cut the grass so we are doctors we are suffering that's why we are calling on the federal government and we are also calling on those patients and those people who we are talking about to join hands with us and call on the current federal government of Nigeria in the led by Bola Mettinibu to do the needful these things as we have said a bit that they can be done so what the demands we are asking for can be done within this we do want to do this some of these things can be done so we are looking for commitment on the side but like I said earlier the slow wheel in the progress of implementing our demands is just the issue so they would prefer what is for everybody stakeholders let's come together and call on this government and put all the pressure our traditional role our real father's national role and everybody we should come together and put an end to this and strike there they avoid the strike if you ask me you know when during the last administration the dr. Kirsten Gege was in charge and we weren't sure if he handled the situation well there were division views with regards to how the situation was handled especially since he is a doctor himself and so here we are in new administration no one we're not yet sure who's going to be head in that unit how disappointed is your association with the way the last administration handled this and what are you hoping to see with regards to who is going to replace Kirsten Gege okay please your question again the network is actually fluctuating sorry all right what are your expectations of this administration you know what do you want do you not want to see that will be carried over from the last administration we know who was in charge last administration and you seem disappointed what is the that you are expecting from this administration especially who is going to replace the man in charge that will be listening to you that you guys when negotiating in the last within the last last administration and the game was and the federal minister of labor and employment but primarily we are under the federal minister of health and then we had the minister and then and we also had them the minister of labor so what we're expecting from the new administration is that they have hit the ground running it's more than two months going to the top month of course we have seen some approver of certain who's sums of money you know we saw 17 billion given to the National Assembly 35 billion to the judiciary and the initial attempt to give 8,000 per month to four households about 12 million of them we are saying that they didn't wait for the former you know they didn't wait for the former executive council to be formed for this approver to be done these things we are talking about you know like the MRT of the medical training fund is already in the office of the county general they cannot prove it the issue of the secular and one for one replacement of doctors and nurses that have left that are in eyepiece those things doesn't need them to come however for the incoming ministers of labor and productivity and also the minister of health where when they come they can only continue even if all the demands that we have act are done today there are three things that need to be done in our tertiary health decision so that we can give good quality of care and ensure patient safety so we are so should you have waited should you have waited yeah so should your association have waited for all of that to be established before going on strike that no we should go but it's a continuum we should not wait because even when they came did you know wait for those ministers who approved the five billion that are we still have to go many places with the structure that they have gotten now it's enough for them to even do all we are asking for you know some of the things don't even involve money like we used to say imagine them just asking that the medical and medical staff of Nigeria to reverse the downgrading of our members of it doesn't need one naira you only need we so in the midst of our strike we just saw and a secular from the National Service and income which is commissioned okay bringing out the secular so who told them to bring out that secular is government they can walk we I don't think we should wait for the federal national executive class to be formed we have a president we have secretary chief of staff of the president and the whole lot the governor is there let them do the needful and we'll find a way and when the new ministers coming we will continue if not we'll keep on waiting endlessly for people to settle down and like a very dirty water of a flood in the rainy season I don't think we will settle down in in good time before things run out of hand okay we're wrapping up now just finally if you were to choose the lowest-hanging fruits what will there be because government definitely may not may not solve all the problems that you have enumerated here there were quite many so what are the most pressing ones that even if they cannot solve the other ones in the shortest possible time they have to do maybe within the next one month one month is too far all our demands are very practicing about it you know what I bought the status of your station or the federal including the release of our trainer in Calabar like I told you earlier who has been in them in the den of adopters and opting out they are all pressing demand like that that's how I'm some of the government official or one of them access what can I do they let them start doing it then we sit down we we are recessed from the meeting the meeting that we went to strike is on recess that wasn't on the 21st so we went to recess we reconvene again and called the strike we're on recess for that meeting what I've ended is our statutory next meeting so we are just willing to reconvene anytime the show working but as I've known not really have been done what was done is not accepted is rejected so let them do the meet with the demands are before their eyes let them start and we need to review what they have done and I can assure you that the welfare of patient of Nigerians is really in our heart and will not hesitate in order to review and possibly combat if they start doing what they should do and those emphasis like I said the issue of brain drain let them replace doctors let the secular for one-on-one replacement be released let them you know tell the relevant government agency to release that secular the head of the federation and then of course the 233 MRT members are going money to go for exams let it be paid like other issues the areas we are talking about these things can be done in the reversal of the downgrading of our member certificate and then the states they can also call on the government where since we are wrapping up I want to also comment some governments in Nigeria that have done well in fact notably and I think not long ago the government of the west of the month some other state about five six of them after this MRT 23 you know the revised version they paid it and some of them have approved and and the commerce salary scale which was the struggling you know the full one where others are also not doing well so whether you will be commented where they don't do well we can commend them sir thank you so much dr. Caleb a curry for your time and we hope that this is resolved as soon as possible for the sake of the people for the sake of the people yes and we are the people the doctors are the people yeah we are all we are all part of it all right doctor thank you so much for being here thank you dr. Caleb dr. Caleb a curry has joined us to take a look at the unfolding drama with the striking doctors well between the striking doctors and the federal government we watch and see how all of that unfolds stay with us as we come back with our second hot topic on the breakfast