‘Doctors Nationwide Strike Would Be Resolved Soon’

By Hammed Shittu

The Chairman of House of Representatives’ Committee on Economic Development and National Planning, Hon. Abdulganiyu Olododo, during the weekend hinted that the ongoing nationwide strike of the members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in the country would be resolved in the next few weeks.
Olododo, who represent Ilorin East/Ilorin South Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, dropped the hint in Ilorin during a chat with journalists on the sideline of the flagging off of a 3km roads, inspection of site of Federal Medical Center located at Fufu Town, installation of 400 solar lights and 100 boreholes, among others, he attracted to his federal constituency.
He said that the leadership of the National Assembly have been working round the clock with the leaders of the NARD to suspend the strike action.
Olododo added that “with the level of understanding the federal government have with doctors so far, I know the strike would soon be over in the next few weeks.”
The lawmaker enthused that he facilitated the Federal Medical Center to my federal constituency based on the campaign promises he made to the people of the constituency.
He said: “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 the 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 district and even the state would benefit. It would generate massive employment for the people and seriously boost the economy of this 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.

“For example, look at the current COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, nobody predicted it. But had it been that we have enough medical facilities we won’t need to be worried about its impact which we are currently battling with.

“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 is taken to the teaching hospital. And the pandemic is not yet over nobody knows what will happen next so we need to take proactive steps.”

Olododo, therefore, urged the elected representatives of the people to continue to work on things that would bring development to the electorate so as to move the nation forward.