House of Reps wades into doctors strike

The House of Representatives has sought to intervene in the ongoing strike by medical doctors on Thursday, urging the health personnel to suspend the action.

In a resolution in Abuja, it directed the Committee on Health to look into the grievances of the doctors by holding a meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association within one week.

The House called on the doctors to suspend the strike pending the outcome of the intervention of its committee.

The resolution was taken following a motion on urgent national importance moved by the Minority Whip of the House, Mr. Sampson Osagie.

Osagie, an All Progressives Congress lawmaker from Edo State, argued that the timing of the strike was wrong.

He stated that Nigeria was in a sort of emergency situation arising from the frequent deadly attacks by Boko Haram insurgents.

Osagie noted that people who were injured or needed urgent medical care from the attacks could die if there were no doctors to attend to them.

He also observed that many sick people and women in labour could suffer untold hardship if the strike was allowed to continue.

“The security situation in our country is such that this is not the time for this strike.

“We appeal to the doctors to have a change of mind as the House looks into this issue,” he said.

The motion received overwhelming support, as it was passed in a unanimous voice vote.

In a separate resolution, the House asked the Federal Ministry of Education to erect or repair parameter fences in all Federal Government Secondary Schools in the country.

A member from Delta State, Evelyn Oboro, moved the motion on the matter.

She told the House that the fencing was necessary to prevent hoodlums and other criminal elements from having easy access into the schools.

Oboro also recalled instances where female students ‎were raped by hoodlums, who invaded their schools.

Part of the motion read, “A report on October 27, 2011, showed that hoodlums forced their way into the hostel of St. Anne’s Secondary School, Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State, about 2am and raped four young female students to the point of coma.”

Members endorsed the motion, passing it in a unanimous voice vote.