FG Sacks 16,000 Resident Doctors Over Most Insensitive Strike Action In History Of Country

The Federal Government, Thursday, announced the suspension of Residency Training programme in all Federal hospitals across the country.

According to a statement by the Deputy Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Health, Alhaji Isiaka Yusuf noted that the programme is suspended pending when all challenges in the health sector are addressed.

The statement reads:The public could recalled the protracted strike action by members of the Nigeria Medical Association consequent on which untold hardship has befallen innocent members of the society who were in need of medical care.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) made good its threat of 11th June 2014 by calling out its members on industrial strike action on the 1st of July despite the Federal Governments successive intervention meetings and dialogue including extensive deliberations with the leadership of the NMA on 25th and 26th June 2014, where agreements were reached on each of the 24 demands and an MoU was signed by both parties.

In the midst of the strike action, the Federal Government had also cultivated the attention and intervention of some eminent personalities in order to prevail on the NMA leadership to respect the ethics of their profession and end the strike whilst the dialogue is ongoing. These personalities included the Governor of Delta State, the Secretary to Government of the Federation, members of the National Assembly especially the Senate and House Committees on Heath respectively, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Chairman, National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, the Honourable Ministers of Health, Labour and Productivity, the Honourable Minister of State for Health, Presidents and Registrars of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, the West African College of Physicians and West African College Surgeons, traditional rulers, eminent and senior members of the medical profession and past executives of the NMA.

It should be stressed that the Federal Government has implemented more than 90 percent of its responsibilities as signed by both parties. At the conclusion of each meeting, the NMA promised to call off the strike but would return another day to say that they could not.

For the whole of July 2014, these doctors did not work yet government, owing to the emergency situation in our country, paid them the July salaries with allowances such as call duty allowance, teaching allowance, hazard allowance, etc. believing that this magnanimity of government would appeal to reason for NMA to call off the strike.

This strike action can be considered as one of the most insensitive steps to be taken by any association or a labour union in the history of this country. Pertinent to the issue under discussion are the current security challenges in the country with the attendant mass casualties. The situation has been compounded by the recent importation of the Ebola Virus Disease into Nigeria on 20th July 2014.

Following the Presidential declaration of a National Public Health Emergency on Ebola Disease which has united the entire country in the efforts to contain the disease, it is quite regrettable that the people who should take leadership role in the fight against Ebola disease are now the most unsupportive.

All efforts by Government to contain this disease are being frustrated by the continued industrial strike action of the NMA.

The Federal Government has therefore decided that Residency Training Programme in Federal Government Hospitals be suspended pending the conclusion of the ongoing appraisal of the challenges in the health sector.

This directive is without prejudice to any emergency measure that may be necessary for the hospital management to immediately restore full medical services.

The Federal Government wishes to reassure the public that optimal medical health care delivery will be sustained in our hospitals, the statement reads.

Joining PDP Will Be A Political Mistake, Governor Kwakwanso Tells Ribadu

Alhaji Rabiu Kwakwanso, the governor of Kano state has sent a warning to former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu advising him to refute overtures by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join them as it will be a political blunder, saying in the end, Ribadu will be the biggest loser.

While speaking to newsmen in Kano on Thursday, August 14, 2014, governor Kwakwanso said Ribadu is well known as a man of integrity, adding that as EFCC chief he was on top of his job and joining the PDP will be tragic.

During the interview which was held at his office in the state capital, Kwakwanso noted that as EFCC chairman, Ribadu inidcted many PDP members for corruption and if he joins them, he will end up being haunted by the same individuals.

Thisday reports:

If he joins their party, which I believe he cannot make that mistake, but if he joins them, that means all what we are talking about him is wrong. In my opinion it will be a big political mistake.
Kwankwaso added: In my own opinion, it will be better for him to remain in the All Progressive Congress (APC) because people see him as man of his word not someone who is going to be desperate for power.

On the issue of the National Conference, the governor said: Any constitution other than 1999 Constitution, I dont think it will certainly help this country. We told our delegates to reject any new constitution apart from the 1999 Constitution.

People should come together to rescue the country. I know some people are trying to amend the constitution for single term of six years. It is unfortunate for them to use their agents and smuggle it.

Kwankwaso also commended the youths and people of Nasarawa State for their support for Governor Tanko Al-Makura and also lamented that those at the top are exploiting the weakness of the constitution.

He faulted a situation whereby the state House of Assembly can impeach a governor or speaker, saying it was bad for democracy.

Commenting on the 2015 elections, the governor said the APC would massively be voted for by the people of the country who are yearning for a change.

Brand new video: Niyola - Love to Love You ft Banky W

Sensual songstress Niyola finally grace our screens with the visuals to her new single 'Love to Love You' featuring EME boss Banky W. Shot by Kemi Adetiba in the US. Enjoy...

Primary school teacher rapes 10year old pupil

Adeniran Adebayo, (pictured above) a primary school teacher has been arrested and arranged in court by the Lagos state police command for raping a primary 4 pupil inside the toilet of their private primary school located on Olateju Ilesanmi Street, Baruwa, Ipaja area of Lagos, Punch reports.

Testifying before a Lagos State Chief Magistrate Court in Ebutte Metta yesterday August 13th, the Investigating Police officer from the state Criminal Investigation Department Yaba said he interrogated the little girl three times in which she affirmed that her teacher, Mr Adeniran, who is married with two children, had lured her to the school toilet and forced himself into her and then threatened to flog her if she screamed. Continue...

The police officer investigating the case said;

"I interviewed the victim after the matter was brought to the SCID. She said on the fateful day, she was in school after the closing hours and was waiting for her younger brother, who attended the same school, so they could go back home together. While waiting, she decided to get busy with her assignments. She said it was while she was doing the assignment that the teacher came and said she should follow him. He then took her to a toilet within the school premises and threatened to cane her if she screamed, unzipped himself, undressed the pupil and made love to her. The girl said she was crying while this was on. It was a female teacher, who was passing by that heard her cry. The female teacher came closer to have a better look and immediately the suspect saw her, he quickly zipped up. The pupil said the female teacher told him that being a teacher, he should never have taken advantage of the girl.”

The accused, Mr Adeniran, while narrating what happened to the Chief Magistrate, denied the claims, saying he never raped the girl

"I am the health teacher of the school. I married five years ago, and have two sons. There are six male teachers in the school. On that day, I didn’t call the girl. I only stood at the gate and asked her and her brother to go home. That was all. I was surprised that after four days, they came to my office and arrested me. The toilet in question has never even been used by anybody.” he said

The Chief Magistrate, O.O. Olatunji, was however not satisfied by his own account, stating that children between the ages of 6-11 never tell lies

"Kids hardly lie, especially when they are between the ages of six to 11. And that’s why I find it hard to believe the account of the defendant. People like you should not be in the society. If like you said there were six male teachers in your school, why did she decide to pick only you? It’s such a big shame,” the Chief magistrate said

The police prosecutor advised the court to remand the accused in prison but he was granted bail in the sum of N300,000 with two sureties in like sum. The judge ordered Adeniran should be remanded in Prison until the bail conditions have been fulfilled. The case was adjourned till October 15th.

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Lagos Ebola patients neglected, critically ill - Relatives, colleagues

Some relatives and concerned colleagues of Ebola patients being treated at the Lagos Isolation center have cried out on what they termed the poor living condition of the victims. 

 

At a press conference held yesterday in Ikoyi, Lagos, some medical practitioners and colleagues of the female medical doctor confirmed to have contracted the virus while attending to late Patrick Sawyer, said the living condition of the victims are poor, stating that they have been left to battle the disease on their own as some physicians who are charged with the responsibility of attending to them have abandoned them for fear of also contracting the deadly virus. Continue...

One of the doctors who spoke at the conference Dr. Helen Boyo-Ekwueme, a consultant Physician said 

"We are not fighting anybody. We are simply giving voice to the voiceless. Those people in isolation at the IDH cannot voice out these concerns. Let them have basic treatment. It shouldn’t be as if we just stood there and abandon them and watch them die one by one. They are human beings. That female doctor is a patriotic Nigerian and she needs to be helped. You people (journalists) should go there and see the surroundings where they are being treated. You would wonder if these are human beings who still have relatives. They are just being left on their own. Nobody is counseling them. They are just there as if they have been forgotten. We should remember that they didn’t ask to contract Ebola and it can happen to anybody. We are appealing for international help for these health workers. Go there yourself and witness firsthand the condition under which they are being taken care of” she said bitterly

Another Doctor, Dr Ladi Okuboyeju, who spoke at the press conference said the Ebola isolation facility does not have basic amenities such as light and water and that most of the doctors are running away from the victims. He stated that Nigeria can not handle the crisis even if doctors were not on strike

"If a health facility doesn’t have light, doesn’t have water and the sanitary system is not working properly then we have got a problem. Now the patients are critically ill and their condition is getting worse by day. People, including some medical personnel, are now running away from them. The reality is that the disease is beyond our capacity to handle in this country. The international community needs to rise up to our aid. The victims are not being properly treated. Forget that the Nigeria Medical Association is on strike, we cannot handle it,” he stated.

A family member of one of the victims asked the federal government

"Where is the $12m the Federal Government said it released to fight Ebola. Remember that the matron and the ECOWAS protocol officer are already dead. Do they want all of them to start dying one after the other,”

Another family member of one of the patient, Deji Akinyanju, who spoke alleged that most of the physicians assigned to work with the WHO expert in taking care of the victims were inexperienced.

"There is a need for more medical personnel that will help look after them. Certain immune booster could also have been easily given to them. We are just concerned family members. But from what we have seen we think more can be done to help them,” Akinyanju said.

Six months after: A letter to you, my son's killer/s - by Aisha Falode

Aisha Falode and Late Son

A grieving mother writes an open letter to her son's killer/s 6 months after his passing. The 19yr old son of ace sports broadcaster Aisha Falode was thrown from the rooftop of a 17-storey building on February 15th 2014 in Dubai. No one has been charged for his murder. Read Ms Falode's letter below

In years gone by, I read detective books and watched Crime series depicting how murderers sleep at night. How they wake up in sweat with nightmarish images of the soul they had taken, and are so filled with dread and guilt of their crime that they spend their night dripping hot, sticky sweat of horror at what they had done. 

How they stare at the night, wishing somehow it would never come, I mean, murderers live in such fear wishing they could turn the hands of the clock or go back in time and re-enact the whole scene of their evil deed, so as to reverse the killing of their innocent victim. Continue...

Such was my naivety because death was so far away from me.  Then death came so close to me I can still feel its hot breath down my spine. Yet I see how helpless it has become for it cannot strike the same victim twice. Death is so uncanny, it takes a soul but it knows that the soul goes back to the Maker in peace, yet he is lucky because the person who wore its cloak, the person who struck the blow, the person who took breath which does not belong to him, becomes its victim.

I say this today, my son's killer/syou have become the victim. Death has deceived you and is now sneering at you. You are in your own hell, a living hell, hades of which will be immersed in you for the rest of your life. 

Toba Falode aka Tyler Fray would have been alive today, breathing, laughing, writing songs about life and oppression, songs about people like you, evil people who think they can oppress, suppress and kill just because they can, but he is not for he rests in the bosom of the Almighty his creator. You Killer had no right taking his life because you did not give it. 

Killer have you ever gone back in history or do murderers have no time to read up what happens to those of their like who came before them? If you do you will know that the Avenger of Death is forever lurking behind you and one day, very soon and sooner than you can imagine, you will pay for your crime and your sins. The Bible which we uphold says vengeance is God's and indeed the Quran as well says there is no hiding place for the wicked.

Killer, the sister's heart you wrenched by taking her brother and confidant, the family you brought despair and misery on, the friends you left crippled with excruciating pain and I though drenched in sorrow by your inhumane callousness, know in my heart that the Avenger is upon you.  

You have challenged the Almighty God by taking a life He created by breaking His commandment that thou shall not kill.  Then like a wicked unrepentant soul, you walk the streets as if nothing happened? Believing in your ignorance that the one who created ears cannot hear and the one who created eyes cannot see.  Surely your conscience is judging you, you sweat profusely in the cold of the night, and shiver in the heat of the day, you jump at the slightest sound and you keep looking over your shoulder, petrified even of your own shadow and dreading the inevitable and knowing in your heart that death has cunned you and the Avenger is so close you can feel the hair on your nape standing. 

Perhaps one day, your nightmare will end and you will free yourself but not before the Avenger gets you, forcing you to speak, telling the world of how you killed my son on that sad night hunting you in Dubai.  When you pushed my boy, a good son, and the hope of my future from a 17 Storey building. What a callous, heartless andcold-bloodedkiller!

How did you kill him, why did you kill him? Oh, lest I forget you, the witness, an accessory to murder. Only God knows what pushes you to soil your hands with innocent blood by remaining silent and protectinga killerfrom a most foul and heinous crime while the image of Tyler’s dead body haunts you at night, you said you wish you could have done more at the time of his death. Yes you can. Speak up and free yourself from the insanity creeping up on you and the long stretch of dark miserable years ahead, how did Tyler Fray die? 

How did my son's innocent blood splatter on your body? Did your bloody knuckle punch the life out of him, or did you smash him with a stone before throwing him over the balcony, or did you just push him to his death? Why did you say you would take the punishment for his death, why do people you call friends keep meeting such a fate around you, is it coincidence? 

Do you know, that there were actually three people on that balcony on that night? The all seeing God, the omnipotent, the ever present…He was there and He witnessed that murder and He is calling you to account forTyler’s Death. Killer!!!!  Look! Feel!

Hear the sound of the footstep of the long arms of the law looming over you like the sun covers the earth …..........

The Avenger is upon you like the waves of the Ocean smashing against the rock there is no escape for God is a just God.

I know Toba is in heaven and that gives me peace.

What kind of peace can a killer give his mother?

To join the call for Justice for Toba go to:

Facebook: Justice for Tyler Fray a.k.a Toba Falode

Twitter: twitter.com/TylerFray

Instagram:instagram.com/justicefortylerfray

Sign The Petition: Change.org:

https://www.change.org/petitions/government-of-the-federal-republic-of-nigeria-the-government-should-insist-the-case-file-on-the-death-of-oloruntoba-oluwadamilola-falode-should-be-reopened-for-investigation-he-was-murdered-on-the-15th-february-2014-2

Email:justicefortylerfray@yahoo.com

Photos: Fuel Tanker on fire along Lagos-Ibadan expressway

A fuel tanker is currently on fire at Ogere junction along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, causing heavy vehicular traffic on the road. Fortunately no lives or vehicles were lost in the inferno. Calling on FRSC officials to move to the scene and manage the situation. See more pics after the cut...

Photos: OOU students on massive protest this morning, destroy property

Students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU, are currently protesting in the state, demanding a reduction in their school fees. The students have barricaded the Presidential boulevard, the route leading to the office of Governor Ibikunle Amosun, saying they will not leave until the governor, who is said to be on his way to his office, addresses them.

The students were reportedly shot at and tear-gassed by soldiers this morning as they marched to the Governors office. After being tear-gassed, angry students started destroying public property. They had initially embarked on a peaceful protest, but turned violent after the teargas. Continue...

The aggrieved students are demanding a further reduction in their school fees days after Governor Amosun announced a reduction in school fees and said it would take effect from next academic session.

The students of the state owned school say they are not satisfied with the reduction, as it's still too high and they want the new school fees to take effect from the current academic session.

The protest started yesterday and continued this morning...

[PHOTOS] Man Found Dead In An Uncovered Well In Lagos

	It was a tragic day for the people of Akanyin street, Shibibiri Rd, Ilemba in Ojo, Ajamgbadi area of Lagos yesterday morning as one of the residents of the area was found with his head deep down in a well. The man who was later recognized as a resident of the area was said to have been in the well for quite a while as many of the tenants who are early users of water had fetched from the well for various purposes before the corpse was noticed to be in the uncovered well.
	Related: Three-Year-Old Girl Rises From Dead At Her Own Funeral - Naij
	The dead body which was later identified to be a carpenter whose wife jilted him recently. Although many of the residents claimed he was seen drunk the previous day, no one could however explain what really happened that got him into the well. Linda Ikeji reports that the Nigerian Security And Civil Defence Corps in the area have however stepped into the case for proper investigation of the matter. It would be recalled that Four people, including two police officers, were recently killed by armed robbers as they attacked a bank in the Alaba International Market in Ojo area of  Lagos.