Doctors and other health workers in Abia State University Teaching Hospital, ABSUTH, Aba, Tuesday, staged a peaceful protest at the premises of the hospital to register their displeasure over the inability of the State Government to pay them their 21 months of salary arrears owed by the immediate-past administration.

The protesters who decried their plights over the prevailing economic hardship in the land, threatened to embark on indefinite strike if the Government failed to clear the backlog of their unpaid wages.

Speaking during the protest, the Chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Association Union, ABSUTH branch, Comrade Chukwuemeka Ariwodo, expressed dissatisfaction over the way the State Government is handling their matter despite their dedication to duty.

He pleaded with the Governor to fulfill his promises to clear the accumulated salary arrears of ABSUTH staff.

Comrade Ariwodo said that life had become difficult for the staff following the 21-month wage arrears.

He vowed that “if by the end of Tuesday, June 25th, 2024 they are not paid, the protest will continue indefinitely.”

Continuing, he added: “We are still expecting our 21 months’ arrears. If by the end of today, the Government fails to pay us, this demonstration will continue until they pay us. We don’t know what’s delaying our payment.

Speaking also, the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Abia State branch, Dr Isaiah Abali, expressed pain over the development, regretting that health workers would be neglected at this time despite their sacrifices.

The NMA boss appealed to Gov. Alex Otti to do all within his powers to defray the arrears and give the staff a sense of belonging, stressing that a worker deserves his wages.

He said: “The easiest thing you can do for a worker is to pay him his salary. That’s the most honest earning. Once you have done your work perfectly, there should be no story on why you should not be paid.

“Those of us who have little private enterprises don’t sleep once the month is ending until we pay our workers the little we owe them. We believe the government should follow suit.”

The NMA boss told the Governor that “ABSUTH workers both big and small are hungry and are feeling the pains of non-payment of salaries.

“All of us are saying that the government should let the workers breathe. We’re calling on our amiable Governor, we’ve seen your giant strides on infrastructure, but we’re begging that those strides should be extended to ABSUTH Workers so that workers will not trek along the well-tarred road while coming to work.

“It does not make sense that workers will trek from Ogbor-Hill down to Abayi here because they don’t have money for transport. So, we’re appealing to the government that ABSUTH workers are very hungry.

“We’ve been trying to calm the workers down, but if you push people hard to the wall you cannot predict what will happen. That’s how revolution starts, but we don’t want revolution now. We want peace and we want the workers to get their pay.”

The NMA boss, further explained that the workers were not bothered about whatever payment method the State Government wants to adopt, but were only interested in their payment.

“They should have been able to test whatever method they’re migrating to not to be delaying our salary with such excuses. If they’re having problems with the new method, let them pay us with the old one and when they have perfected the new method, they can migrate to it.

“We therefore call on the Governor to come to our aid. The majority of our members watch their children chased out of school. Some cannot even recharge their prepaid meters for electricity.

“What then is the essence? We’re begging now so that there will be no unnecessary bitterness. We’re not political. We’re only saying pay us our salary.”

NMA had embarked on a series of strike actions to protest the nonpayment of salaries of medical and health workers in the hospital during the last administration but without success.

(CDA News)
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