The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has been described as the most sincere and serious government Nigeria has ever had.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, stated this on Friday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
He was reacting to the ongoing strikes by the Members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in the country.
NARD embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday.
But Ehanire, appealing to the doctors to call off the strike action said, “We have made it clear to them that this government is the most sincere and serious government this country has ever had. His (Buhari) word is his bond.”
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Responding to claims that the government failed to keep to its promises to the health workers, the minister said, “This government has a record of being sympathetic to people, of meeting its obligations and keeping to its promises.”
He recalled how the current government paid the Nigerian Airways workers their pension arrears and kept other promises.
“This government does things differently. This is a government that says its word and keeps to its words. We would not do anything to hurt you. We work in your (doctors) interest,” he said.
The minister lamented that it was not good for the country to have its doctors on strike at this time when the health system had been strained globally due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
He said, “We are going through a very difficult time with other countries and this is quite clearly not the time to add more to our problems by deciding to go on strike.
“I am worried that we are probably the first and only country where doctors have decided to go on strike.”
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