Tobias Sylvester
Some health workers in Ondo State have cried out that life has been miserable for them over non-payment of their 15 months salaries by the state government.
The aggrieved workers said despite their active participation in helping to contain the coronavirus pandemic, 25 of them are yet to be paid their remunerations.
The health workers include doctors, nurses, scientific officers, pharmacists, medical lab technicians and record officers and currently work at government hospitals in Owo, Ore, Ikare Akoko, Irele and many other parts of the state.
One of the health workers who shared the ordeal of the team on social media, narrated how 26 of them were employed into the Ondo State civil service under the health management board on June 26, 2019 during the tenure of Oluwatoyin Akinkuotu as Head of Service (HoS).
The health workers said it took months to discover that a lady among them had been singled-out for payment while efforts to ensure the new head of service, Oluwadare Aragbaye fixed the problem failed.
“After six months of not being paid, we got to know that just one of the 26 health workers (the only igbo girl) has been receiving her salary since last year October! Well, may be Ondo State Government is really Igbocentric as people say,” Aketipayus stated in the tweet.
Some of the affected individuals who spoke with Premium Times under the condition of anonymity to avoid being sanctioned, said they have been living on debts, yet manage to keep up with the normal office activities.
“We have been living on debt for the past one year. We were recruited and offered appointments letters but no payment. We kept working due to the promise that the government will attend to us”, one of the doctors said.
A pharmacist said that quitting the job at the period of COVID-19 may hinder the effort of the government towards curbing the deadly virus. He, however, said that despite their travails, they keep up with the normal office activities.
“We have reached out to the state Assembly and some other stakeholders but effort to get our salaries proved abortive and we’re getting tired of this injustice”, another affected person said.
When contacted, the state Commissioner for Information, Donald Ojogo, said that the current HoS, Oluwadare Aragbaiye, is in the best position to give reason for the neglect.
Mr Aragbaiye, is however, yet to respond to enquiries as of the time of filing this report. He did not respond to our correspondent’s calls and text messages.
KanyiDaily recalls that the Abuja Chapter of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD-FCTA) had embarked on indefinite strike to protest the non-payment of their salaries.
