Lagos
State Government on Saturday condemned the National Union of Petroleum and
Natural Gas Workers on its threat to embark on strike if the sacked Lagos
doctors were not recalled.
The state government described the proposed
solidarity strike as blackmail by NUPENG and Nigerian Medical Association.
In a statement by the Commissioner
for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, the state government said
NUPENG wanted to inflict more pains on the people through its sympathy strike.
Ibirogba said while the government
had taken steps to restore normalcy in the health sector in the state, “NUPENG
has shown clearly by its rash ultimatum that it had a clear political agenda.
“It is most unfortunate that NUPENG’s
voice was not raised in defence of doctors in the military hospitals who have
not been paid for nine months, while calling a strike in support of doctors who
are well paid up to date but who chose to abandon their patients with many
avoidable deaths recorded.
“In other climes, the doctors should
be facing prosecution now.”
According to the statement, NUPENG is
using the doctors’ strike as a subterfuge to get back at the state government
for spearheading the clearing of Apapa which has become a nightmare due to
indiscriminate parking and blockade of the roads by tanker drivers.
Ibirogba cautioned NMA branches in
the Federal Capital Territory and Oyo State against their support for the
doctors, saying the medical profession was one that should be guided by
decorum.
The Commissioner said, “The state
government will not be stampeded or intimidated by the antics of politically
sponsored unions into abdicating its responsibilities to the citizenry and the
rest of its workforce.”
The statement also reiterated the
state government’s warning against the alleged intimidation of old and newly
employed doctors working in the state hospitals.