They Don't Really Care About Us!! Nigerian Doctor Showers Dissatisfaction On Facebook Over Negligence. See What He Wrote

Today as i boarded a cab back home the news at 4pm was being read and they said resident doctors begin indefinite strike because of unpaid salaries...Then the vituperation began from the passengers..All manner of invectives were being hurled on doctors and so far as they were concerned doctors were greedy and should be sent to the guillotine..unusually i lost my cool and against my principles i revealed i was a doctor..i had taken enough of this cheap and silly blackmail...

Then the driver asked for his fare and i gave him and he took it..that was where i started...and i asked him why did you not tell me to keep my money because i was a doctor??The woman seated with me runs a supermart and i asked her if she had met any doctor who came to buy things and after buying she told the person not to pay because he or she was a doctor??the silence at this moment was defeaning..

First and foremost we are first humans before doctors..we feel hunger..we feel thirst..we need to PAY BILLS...we have mouths to feed and dependants..for God sake doctors are not extraterrestrial!!!!

As a matter of fact revealing you are a doctor makes you pay more for goods and services so why would they think i dont need money??why should the good work we have decided to do become a pivot of blackmail and an albatross??

For my colleagues who have kids has any school refused taking school fees from you because you are a doctor??for the ones who are married did your inlaws not take any money from you because you are a doctor?

By reason of our profession we have now been made scapegoats..the society demands so much from us with attendant high responsibilities but look the other way when we cry out for welfare..CRUELTY!!!!

Many may not be aware that this avoidable indefinite strike would have been nipped in the bud if the fed ministry of health had shown responsibility and been more proactive..The speaker house of reps called for a meeting to prevent this situation but FMOH decided to show levity and now we are here..From time immemorial they have joked with us and resort to blackmail but for people like me i have grown thick skin..i can only urge NARD to make sure this strike last as long as possible to bring lasting solutions to our decaying health sector..

Now just to enlighten some that this strike isnt just about money..infact no new demands were made just a case of implementing what was agreed in the last administration..

How can you owe doctors in some states for up to 10months??
How can you use torch light to do surgical procedures in teaching hospitals including taking deliveries???abomination!!

How can you have inadequate bed spaces where some patients have to lay on the ground and when they die their people want to kill the doctors??(uniport students&UPTH et al)

How can the call rooms be so dilapidated that even rodents find it difficult to inhabit?
How can people have primaries for years without placement for residency after which their primaries expire usually after 5years and you expect them to write the exams again to repeat the cycle??

The other day west african college of surgeons increased their exam fees across board..i believe its the same for  national post graduate medical college of nigeria yet they want the salaries to remain static..no way!!!

While i dont subscribe to NARD pulling out of NMA i think NARD should do all it can to make sure this issue is resolved once and for all..doctors cant go on strike and are blackmailed in a week or two to call it off when the issue remains there only for it to resurface again..Greece went on strike for months..same with ghana..we need lasting solution..not blackmail..

I see people protest and even use placards against the government and say dont do this dont do that..how many times have they protested against the inhumane treatment to people who have dedicated their lives to save lives???absolutely not...they dont really care about us

Finally there is no single shred of nobility in the amount of money the doctor takes home which is not commensurate with his status and efforts neither is there any nobility in the conditions we practice our profession in this country which has forced many to leave the country for residency and chose to do MPH after MBBS all to avoid the mundane environment of residency in this country..They say the medical profession is noble but in nigeria that nobility has since been interred..courtesy the nigerian system of government.

And as for some people who will say doctors too like money thats why they go on strike let me meet you one on one and you repeat it to me..then watch me fast and pray for you never to have that money..

This madness in blackmail must stop..Doctors are humans and they have needs...