Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) was partially shut down on Tuesday when its medical and health workers demonstrated for their unpaid salaries, calling on Governor Alex Otti to pay them.
Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Abia State branch, Dr Isaiah Abali, who spoke on behalf of the workers, expressed sadness for the unpaid workers’ salary, stressing that it is unfortunate that health workers are neglected in the current harsh economy. He called on the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti to do all within his powers to make sure the May and June salaries of all the workers in the hospital are paid, adding that the economic condition is biting harder.
“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. “People who have little private enterprises don’t sleep once the month is ending until they pay their workers the little they owe them. We believe the government should follow suit,” he said.
Abali in his message to Otti said that ABSUTH workers are suffering, ABSUTH workers both big and small are hungry and are feeling the pains of non-payment of salaries which is not a good situation to be in Nigeria now.
“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.”
Abali said that the workers are not interested in whatever payment method the government is migrating to, but that they are only asking that government should pay them and not delay the 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.”
Also, the Chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Association Union, (ABSUTH) branch, Comrade Chukwuemeka Ariwodo said that nobody in ABSUTH is happy currently because of how the Abia State government has decided to treat them for their dedicated services.
He said: “We’re surprised that the government have refused to pay us our May 2024 salary and as it stands now our June 2024 salary is in peril because we’re now unsure of our tomorrow. Next tomorrow, other people will start receiving June salary and from the obvious situation, they’ll likely skip us. They’ll not pay us, so we’re calling on the Governor to pay us our May and June salaries.”
Ariwodo said that the workers are still expecting Otti to fulfil his promise of clearing the arrears of their salaries which he promised during the campaigns, noting that if by the end of Tuesday, June 25th, 2024, they are not paid, the protest will continue indefinitely.
“We’re 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,” he said.
