A synonym is a word or phrase whose meaning is the same as or similar to another word or phrase. Synonyms can be used interchangeably in sentences and if properly pulled off to match intended meaning, the core message in the said statement remains undistorted.
While the use of synonym is for normal day to day English language, in public conversations our brains have normalized certain things in such a way that we immediately associate them with certain behaviours or things, not just because we humans naturally have biases but due to the deliberate repetition of certain events. Maybe this is why when one sees “cows” in the news we quickly think of “fulani herders”, if we hear “hardship allowance” chances are that we will squeeze our faces as we immediately ask about our federal lawmakers and whenever we hear the word “strike” we are quick to ask if it is by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) or the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) even though the ability to embark on industrial action or strike as it were, is not the main reason for the creation of either of the aforementioned groups.
Concerned citizens pray that a day comes when the name “Nigeria” becomes the replacement word for greatness but how would such become reality if in 2021 we still owe salaries to individuals in the healthcare sector during a global pandemic like covid-19 and then cry foul when some of them leave Nigeria for other countries where health care services are valued.
Recently, the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, threatened to embark on a nationwide strike from April 1st, 2021 due to the poor welfare packages, unpaid salaries, and alleged ineptitude of Registrar of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, Dr. Tajudeen Sanusi and NARD President, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi who conveyed resolutions taken at the extraordinary National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the association at the weekend via a communique, lamented the inhumane treatment meted at members in some State Tertiary Institutions who were owed months of salaries, and some of the Association’s members in Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform who have not been paid salaries for four months now due to delay in biometric capturing by the IPPIS department.
The association is also asking for an exigent review of the act regulating post graduate medical training in Nigeria in order to eradicate unnecessary rigours of in residency training, a factor linked to the brain drain in the sector.
One could spend all day meticulously looking at all the demands from NARD in trying to figure out if such warrants a call for nationwide strike as a matter of opinion, however what is a matter of fact is that it is extremely wrong to owe healthcare or medical practitioners their salaries at any time, even worse during a pandemic they have helped us fight at the frontlines.
What is more worrisome is the fact earlier this month NARD had urged the federal government to pay the salaries of some house officers and resident doctors before the 9th of march or risk industrial action, well today is the 29th day of March and it seems those who were meant to listen to them decided to pay attention to other issues.
Aggrieved citizens who have expressed irritation at yet another story in Nigeria of workers being owed salaries, have wondered why public office holders have never complained of owed or delayed salaries even during holidays but then go ahead to owe resident doctors and house officers with impunity?
There are those who are appealing to the sense of duty of the house officers and resident doctors, saying they should not forget the oath they swore to care for Nigerians, however others who oppose it feel such point is often used to blackmail these workers who are often overwhelmed by the volume of work due to shortage of staff to work literally on an empty stomach.
How would such persons be effective at their job? Is this not a safety concern on its own?
Have we forgotten these people have families and mouths to feed or that what they do is actually a job they should get paid for?
Is it not shameful that we now hold the title of the poverty capital of the world, the home of the most unemployed persons already? Why are we working hard to make owing healthcare and medical practitioners a synonym for the name “Nigeria”?