(DDM) – Resident doctors at Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, have issued a strong warning of imminent strike action over poor welfare, unpaid allowances, and severe equipment shortages crippling service delivery.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in the institution reached this resolution after its emergency general meeting, where members expressed anger at the hospital management’s failure to address grievances dragging for years.
The doctors, led by ARD President Dr. Oghenetega Ejeheri, accused management of ignoring welfare demands despite several reminders. According to him, members are owed 13 months of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) arrears and 25 months of accoutrement allowances. “Our patience has been stretched beyond limits.
If these arrears are not cleared immediately, we will have no choice but to down tools,” he declared.
Beyond welfare, the doctors highlighted appalling infrastructural decay within the teaching hospital.
They lamented that there are no functional ventilators, very few working monitors, and even abandoned orthopaedic centre equipment gathering dust while patients suffer.
“We are still referring patients outside the hospital for basic scans like CT and MRI. This is unacceptable for a supposed teaching hospital,” Ejeheri said.
The association also raised concerns about manpower shortages. Young doctors, including house officers, reportedly face poor housing and unfriendly working conditions, worsening the brain drain crisis already threatening Nigeria’s healthcare system.
The doctors argued that without urgent recruitment, both patient care and training of future specialists would collapse further.
DDM notes that the Oghara hospital, once envisioned as a leading medical facility in the South-South, has struggled to meet expectations due to chronic underfunding, mismanagement, and lack of political will.
Established to reduce medical tourism and provide world-class healthcare to Deltans, the centre has instead become a reflection of the larger rot in Nigeria’s health sector.
Health experts warn that a strike by resident doctors in Delta could cripple services statewide, as the teaching hospital remains a referral centre for multiple communities.
Patients with critical conditions, including accident victims and those with complex surgical needs, would be forced to seek expensive treatment in private hospitals or travel out of state.
DDM recalls that industrial action by health workers has become a recurring feature in Nigeria, with resident doctors embarking on multiple nationwide strikes in recent years over similar issues of unpaid salaries, poor facilities, and lack of protective equipment.
Each time, patients bear the brunt as access to emergency and specialist care grinds to a halt.
The doctors stressed that unless arrears are paid, call rooms renovated, equipment provided, and recruitment increased, they will embark on a full strike. “We cannot continue to work under inhumane conditions.
If government and management refuse to act, we will be forced to withdraw our services,” the resolution concluded.
As the deadline for action draws closer, the Delta State government faces mounting pressure to intervene before the hospital is plunged into chaos.
Post Views: 11
