Slain doctors in Nigeria said on Saturday that they would launch nationwide protests, accusing the country's newly elected president of ignoring their demands for better pay, conditions better jobs,s and pay the amount. The protest, which will begin on Wednesday, adds to other challenges facing Nigeria's president, Bola Tinubu, who is leading the efforts of the West African region ECOWAS - which he heads - to restore democracy in Niger after the coup last week. The protest became necessary "to push for our demands, which were ignored by our parent ministers and the federal government," wrote Dr. Innocent Orji, president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, in a letter dated August 5 to the local government. Department of Health made available to The Associated Press. Resident doctors who are graduates in training provide critical care in public hospitals in Nigeria, which have one of the lowest doctor-patient ratios in the world, with two doctors in 10,000 people, according to the Nigerian Medical Association. Resident doctors have been on strike since July 26 to protest non-payment of salaries and demand an increase in wages and working conditions.
But instead of responding to their demands, the country's health ministry issued a "no work, no pay" order against them and other "punitive measures," Orji told The Associated Press. In their letter to the health workers, the doctors said they will prefer the government and other institutions until their demands are met. "We are saddened that instead of using sincerity and efforts to solve the challenges that led to it (the war) even though it has been repeated, our ministers and the federal government have chosen to make doctors live in Nigeria has always been inspired. Their sacrifice and patriotism" read the letter. The planned demonstration follows a similar demonstration earlier this week by a labor union in Nigeria to protest the cost of living in Africa's most expensive country. Some of the policies introduced by Tinubu since he assumed office in May have resulted in millions of Nigerians struggling with inflation, which stood at 22.7% in June, and a multidimensional poverty rate. is 63%."This country is sitting on the barrel of a gun, (and) focusing on national issues would be better," Dr. Erondu Nnamdi Christian, a doctor based in southeastern Abia State, said of Tinubu's efforts in Niger. "Love begins at home."
