President Bola Tinubu on Monday, urged striking health workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (JOHESU) to return to work, promising to resolve their grievances.
“We will resolve all the issues. Please go back to work,” Tinubu told the leadership of the Joint Health Sector Unions during a meeting at the State House, Abuja.
State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye, revealed this in a statement he signed on Monday titled, ‘President Tinubu restates commitment to reviving health sector.’
The PUNCH reported that the JOHESU had embarked on an indefinite strike a week ago over demands for improved welfare, amongst other reasons.
Tinubu, who stated his administration’s commitment to revive and restore public confidence in Nigeria’s health sector, harped on the importance of the sector and its professionals.
“The health sector is one sector with a commitment to humanity. We will resolve all the problems.
“Trust must be enshrined in all discussions. I promise you, we will accelerate this.
“We will resolve all the issues. Please go back to work,” the President said.
In response, the acting Chairman, JOHESU, Dr Obinna Ogbonna, according to the statement, expressed the readiness of the union to get its members back to work, but urged the President to pay attention to the healthcare delivery system in Nigeria through adequate investment in infrastructure and better welfare for workers in the sector to stop brain drain.
“Mr President, now that we have assurance from the top, we are encouraged to go back and talk to our members with a view to going back to work,” said Ogbonna.
A member of the executive council of the union, Mr Olumide Akintayo, who accompanied the acting chairman to the meeting, also urged the Federal Government to always respond to Labour issues and nip them in the bud before they become full-blown industrial crises.
