A total of fifty-nine medical professionals who were employed by the administration of Nasarawa administration at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, or DASH, in Lafia, have resigned.
The doctors’ main reasons for quitting during the last three months were the lack of hazard allowances and unfavorable working circumstances.
Twenty of the medical professionals departed to pursue chances in Saudi Arabia, while the remaining 39 quit because they were unhappy with their working circumstances, according to news reports.
This mass departure of medical personnel is part of a larger pattern of unrest in labor relations at hospitals run by the Nasarawa State Government, which includes doctor resignations, strikes, and demonstrations about the lack of hazard allowances.
With more than fifty medical doctors quitting their positions with the state between January and March 2024, the issue has gotten worse in recent months.
The hospital got around 25 resignation letters from physicians in a span of two days, according to a government official from DASH who wished to remain unnamed, indicating the seriousness of the problem.
The president of the National Association of Resident Doctors in Nasarawa State, Dr. Yakubu Adeleke, voiced his dissatisfaction with the state government’s lack of reaction to the doctors’ requests for better welfare.
He listed many key objections, including the fact that some medical professionals had worked for up to eight years without receiving a promotion, and warned that the state’s health system would be severely strained if doctors began to quit in large numbers.
“Doctors in Nasarawa State have been stagnated. No promotion. Some doctors have been working for eight years without promotion,” he said.
In response, Dr. Gaza Gwamna, the Nasarawa State Commissioner for Health, acknowledged the difficulties and said that the state government had started putting a benefit package for medical professionals into place.
Gwamna told the remaining medical professionals not to worry, as the government was hiring people to cover the open positions.
