Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Sen. Lekan Balogun, CFR, Alli Okunmade II, has urged the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals, to discuss and proffer workable and lasting solutions to the menace of incessant strike action.
Olubadan made the urge when various heads of the Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical centres under the aegis of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals paid him a courtesy visit as part of the activities lined up for the Committee’s 103rd regular meeting being hosted by the University College Hospital Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He said the CCMDFTH should use the ongoing conference as a veritable platform to address the issue.
“I urge you to please use this occasion of your gathering together to discuss the menace and proffer workable and lasting solutions to the problem.
“In doing this, I want you to be open-minded and considerate of the general situation in the country. You are to bear in mind that where two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Let the love of our people be your guiding point.
“It is a fact that there are some irreducible minimum conditions under which you can function effectively and efficiently, which I believe the present nation’s leadership would not deny.
“Let your relationship with it be more of dialogue than confrontation, bearing in mind that the sincerity of purpose of Mr President is never in doubt from his displayed posture so far”, he added.
Wishing the medical practitioners a happy stay in his domain, Oba Balogun promised that he would interact with his colleague Obas nationwide to lend a traditional voice to their demands as the needs arise, urging them to feel free to relate with the traditional institution as partners in progress for the well-being of the citizenry.
In his courtesy remark, the Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Emem Abasi Bassey, urged Olubadan to use his influence to help in whatever way he could to assist in addressing some of their challenges, which he described as numerous.
“We have a lot of challenges, which we won’t bore you with, but we can’t help but mention that of power supply. Your hospital here, the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, is groaning under the heavy burden of an electricity bill.
“We would appreciate it if Your Majesty’s could help reach out to the state government in a way to come to our aid. This is just one of the various challenges that we are brainstorming over at our meeting.
“On behalf of our Committee, I thank Your Majesty for making time out to receive us, as our meeting would not be complete without this visit”, the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital CMD added.
