By Hammed Shittu
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Economic Development and National Planning, Hon. Abdulganiyu Olododo, has said that the ongoing nationwide strike of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) will be called off in the next few weeks.
Olododo, who represents Ilorin East/Ilorin South federal constituency at the National Assembly, dropped the hint during a chat with journalists on the sidelines of the flag-off of 3km road, inspection of the site of the Federal Medical Centre located at Fufu town, installation of 400 solar lights and commission of 100 boreholes, among others, facilitated by him in his constituency.
He said that the leadership of the National Assembly has been working round the clock with the NARD leadership so as to suspend the strike.
Olododo said: “With the level of further understanding the federal government has with the doctors so far, I know the strike would soon be over in the next few weeks.
“I facilitated the Federal Medical Centre to my federal constituency based on the campaign promises to the people of the constituency.
“During my campaign period in 2018/2019, I promised my people that when I’m elected into National Assembly, I will facilitate federal presence to my constituency and this is one of such projects that God used me to get.
“It is Federal Medical Centre. It has scaled through all legislative process. So I just came to see where exactly the project would be constructed in Fufu in Ilorin South Local Government which is the headquarters of the local government.
“It is also beyond the people of this local government, this is Federal Medical Centre, we are talking of billions of naira project. Fufu is close to Ifelodun Local Government, the entire senatorial and even the state would benefit. It would generate massive employment for the people and seriously boost the economy of that community. The senatorial district and even the state at large.
“This is a future project, it’s not for today so we should always advance developmental talks for the benefit of our people. It has nothing to do with the ongoing strike.
“So the current doctors’ strike shouldn’t stop us from preparing for the future. That’s why I made efforts to bring this to my constituency. I know very soon, the strike will be a thing of the past. In the next few weeks because of the understanding the federal government has with the doctors.
“We must be proactive and ensure that we don’t wait until we have problems before we start looking for solutions.
“For instance, in my constituency, we have a teaching hospital but look at the distance if we want to rush a patient on emergency from where we are to that place considering the distance the patient would have died before he or she gets to the teaching hospital. And the pandemic is not yet over nobody knows what will happen next so we need to take proactive steps.”
