By Abdallah el-Kurebe
The management of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) has lamented that the Hospital should not be part of the ongoing national strike of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU).
The Chief Managing Director (CMD) of the Hospital, Dr. Yakubu Ahmed told news men in his office on Saturday that far as the management of UDUTH was concerned, all demands of the Union had been met.
“UDUTH should not be part of the strike. We should not be part of the strike in any case. This is because we have met all the demands of the Union. We have promoted 61 senior and 48 junior workers up to 2014; we have paid all arrears to the tune of N200 million,” Dr. Ahmed said.
He added that when in 2013 the management of the Hospital got a circular from the Federal Ministry of Health instructing them to implement the demands of the Union, UDUTH included that in the budget.
“We are being punished for fault that is not ours. We shouldn’t be part of it in all fairness. Everything has stopped; all schools have been affected. If we don’t have problem with JUHESU, why should we be part of the strike?” Dr. Ahmed asked.
He observed that if the UDUTH branch of JUHESU is on strike based on solidarity, that should not have taken this long.
Dr. Ahmed appealed to medical workers in UDUTH and by extension across the country to call off the strike in the spirit of humanity.
“Based on merit, UDUTH should be exonerated. Besides in general, human life is important. Nothing should be between us and our patients. We should honour our Oath to protect human life,” he added.
