Ibukun Eniola (not real name), a resident doctor at a Federal Government hospital in Ekiti State, has said that resident doctors in the country are generally unhappy with the way they are being treated by the Federal Government.

Speaking with FIJ on Monday, Eniola said the ongoing strike by resident doctors in the country is an offshoot of incessant acts of insincerity on the part of the Ministry of Labour, with five resident doctors in his own hospital alone on the verge of “escaping” to the UK.

“This is not rocket science,” he said. “We have been signing memorandums but they have not been effective for the past four years.”

“While we were on strike back in April this year, yet another memorandum was signed. But up till now, nothing has been done by the government to make good its promises.”

The 34-year-old doctor described the act of getting the representatives of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to sign agreements as a recurring technique that the government is fond of using in getting striking doctors to go back to work.

“There is no doctor that would love to see his or her patient die. However, because of the situation we’ve now found ourselves in, it is better we get the government to do the right thing once and for all. The only language the government understands is ‘strike.’”

“The plan is to continue with the strike until the government fulfils its own part of the agreement. A hungry doctor is an angry doctor. You won’t even perform very well when you’re hungry,” Eniola further said.

The doctor said some house officers are being owed salaries for up to four months. He also revealed that the money meant for Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) signed into law in 2017 has not been made available on a yearly basis as expected. With the MRTF, doctors are expected to acquire more knowledge to aid better service delivery.

“This year alone, I have gone for two exams and I have had to cough up N700,000 on my own. Till we speak, no one even knows if the Residency Training Fund would be made available this year or not.”

Resident doctors generally are not bothered by the ‘no work, no pay’ threat from Chris Ngige, Labour Minister, said Eniola.

“The only problem at the moment is the average Nigerian’s inability to have access to doctors for treatment and adequate healthcare.

“I am a senior registrar where I work and I don’t even earn up to $1,000 in a month, after paying tax. But you will see your colleagues in the UK and the US getting huge salary payments and other irresistible welfare packages. I have lost count of the number of colleagues that have left our shores to start a better life abroad.

“When you see these things happen right in front of you, you would want to escape as well. As a matter of fact, I am also planning to leave the country. I can also speak of four other colleagues who are currently planning on leaving too. We may get to a point in this country where there will be no resident doctors left to attend to any patient.

“I have a daughter, and I would not want her to grow up in a system that does not work. Apart from that, you have family members who have laboured to sponsor you through school and are expecting you to do right by them, now that you are now a doctor. How do you even do that when what you earn isn’t even enough to go round, and you’d even have to engage in a series of strikes to get it?”

On August 2, NARD embarked on an indefinite strike. Apart from the demand for better emoluments, the doctors are agitating for regular payment of salaries and improvement in the working environment, among others.