MDCAN Issues 21-Day Strike Notice To Stakeholders

JOS – The National Executive Council of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigerian (MDCAN) has issued a 21-day notice of strike to relevant stakeholders to address their beleaguering demands.

In a statement made available to SATURDAY INDEPENDENT in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the union leaders said, failure to do so, they would not guarantee continuation of services rendered by their members who are holders of medical and dental fellowships nationwide.

The statement was made public at the end of the extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Association.

The statement which was signed by Professor Aminu Mohammad, the MDCAN President and Prof Daiyabu Ibrahim, the Secretary directed its members to take lawful steps not limited to withdrawal of services but legal options where the advertisement for the position of the office of Vice Chancellor is
discriminatory and disenfranchises the medical and dental science lecturers.

Parts of the statement reads: “NEC resolves that any unlawful and discriminatory posture to holders of the Medical and Dental Fellowship qualifications will no longer be tolerated.

The Medical and Dental doctors further stressed, “All members where such discriminatory adverts are released have been directed to take necessary, lawful means to restore their rights as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

NEC also resolved that it is unacceptable for any University in Nigeria to
benchmark the requirements for the office of a Vice Chancellor to the
attainment of a PhD, without recognising the Medical and Dental Fellowships peculiar to the Medical profession as an academic and professional
qualification which more than suffice wherever PhD is required.

They also decried the failure of Government to harmonise the retirement age of Medical Consultants
to 70 years, especially in the face of increasing needs for both academic and
professional duties of these Medical and Dental specialists.

According to them, these are the undergraduate and post graduate Medical and Dental trainers and providers of specialist medical services in the tertiary health institutions (Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres and Specialty Hospitals) at State and Federal
levels.

MDCAN also urged Federal Government to as a matter of urgency complete the process of harmonising the payment of the emoluments of Clinical Medical Lecturers with Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) in order to correct the significant shortfalls in their
emolument, entry level, and pension.

NEC also commended the steps taken thus far by members to address the
discriminatory advertisements which sole aim is to disenfranchise the medical lecturers, from contributing their quota to University administration and management at the highest level.