Governor Emmanuel
Uduaghan of Delta State has lamented the many unnecessary deaths that the ongoing strike by doctors was bringing on the nation.
Uduaghen made the lamentation when he visited the family of his Commissioner for Works, Mr. Funkekeme Solomon, to pay his condolences over the death of his younger brother, Moses.
The governor described the death of Moses as one of the losses in human lives that the nation has witnessed as a result of the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Nigeria Medical Association.
Uduaghan who is a member of the government team negotiating with the doctors, said it was important for the NMA to call off the strike action while the federal government looked at the issues involved. The late Moses Solomon was a civil servant in the Delta State Civil Service. He died at the age of 49.
The governor said the death of Solomon was a sad reminder of the number of people who are dying as a result of the NMA strike action, stressing that some of the deaths were avoidable if the doctors were on duty.
Uduaghan said, “The circumstance behind his death is part of the reasons we are appealing to my professional colleagues (you know I am a medical doctor) to suspend the strike. If doctors were not on strike, it is possible he would have been alive, because we are losing lives unnecessarily as a result of the strike. We know there are challenges and a lot is been done with them. A life that is lost cannot be recovered, so, I appeal to them (doctors) to suspend this strike while go vernment deals with the issues because to me, this is one loss as a result of the strike action.”
He commiserated with the Solomon family saying, “in life, we pray to live till old age but, it is only God that knows why your brother left at such age because, even your mother is still looking young. We cannot question God, it has happened. Mama is there, his children are there and we pray that God will give all of you the fortitude to bear the loss.”
Responding, Mr. Funkekeme Solomon thanked Uduaghan for joining the vanguard of those calling for an end to the doctors’ strike, noting that private hospitals do not have enough space for the sick.
He also, thanked the governor for identifying with the family in their period of grief and pledged to continue to work for the governor to finish strong in 2015.