Chinedu Ezeh 
The Resident Doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja (FTHL) staged a protest on Thursday over the shortage of manpower and alleged unfavorable policies implemented by the hospital’s management under Dr. Olatunde Alabi.
Carrying placards with various messages such as “We want to work, not to suffer and die,” “Stop using no work, no pay to threaten us,” and “Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja doctors are dying, help,” among others, the protesting doctors voiced their grievances against the hospital’s management.
Addressing journalists, some of the protesting doctors, who preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of victimization, highlighted issues such as the shortage of manpower and excessive workload. They emphasized that many of their female colleagues have been losing pregnancies due to the overwhelming workload.
“The management of Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja has been very disappointing to us,” one of the protesting doctors stated. “We have been raising the issue of manpower shortage with them for a long time. In 2020, we had about 222 resident doctors in this hospital. But now, we are left with only 64. The workload keeps increasing on a daily basis, and despite our pleas, the management keeps citing excuses, such as not receiving a waiver from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to hire new resident doctors.”
The doctors also expressed concerns about the harsh working conditions, including working 48 hours without a break and the use of a platform called GIFMIS, which they described as exploitative and used to casualize doctors.
“We demand an end to the GIFMIS platform for doctors at Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja,” one doctor emphasized. “We also demand an end to the excuses regarding the waiver for hiring new resident doctors. There should be immediate advertisements for doctor recruitment, and all arrears owed to doctors at Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja should be paid.”
Dr. Baoku Olusola, the Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi State, who joined the protest, expressed solidarity with the resident doctors and called on the Federal Government led by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to intervene urgently.
“The situation at Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja is unacceptable,” Dr. Olusola stated. “Doctors are overworked, underpaid, and their welfare is being neglected. We call on the Federal Government to swiftly address the demands of the resident doctors at Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja before the situation escalates further.”
The resident doctors vowed to continue their protest until their demands are met by the hospital’s management.
