Angry staff and members of various unions of health workers in Ekiti yesterday called on President Mohammadu Buhari to effect the immediate sack of the Chief Medical Director of Federal Teaching Hospital, (FETHI),Ido-Ekiti Dr. Lawrence Majekodunmi Ayodele over comments he reportedly made on the departed doctors who lost their lives in a fatal auto crash along Kaduna Road on their way to Sokoto for the Annual General meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
Dr. Ayodele yesterday in a national daily said that the three doctors from the hospital who died while on the ill-fated trip did not get permission from the management before embarking on the journey. The three doctors were Dr. Tunde Aladesanmi, Dr. Adeniyi Atolani James, and Dr. Alexandra Akinyele.
Ayodele also berated the members of the Senior Staff Association of Teaching Hospital, Ekiti chapter for protesting against him and accusing him of complicity in the death of their colleagues, saying that their actions was not only politically motivated but also targeted at preventing him from getting a second term appointment.
Reacting to the CMD' statements through a communique issued by a joint committee of the leaders of the various unions, which was adopted by the general house of the unions, the members made some observations and resolutions. They staged a peaceful protest and displayed placards demonstrating their displeasure at the CMD, with allegations such as:' Ayodele must go!', 'Our CMD, is too corrupt',' Buhari sack Ayodele now!' among others.
The observations of the unions include among others, failure/insensitive of the hospital's management to show grief or release a condolence letter to the bereaved families, alleged politicizing of the situation and mocking the dead just to secure his second term ambition, alleged insult to the members by the CMD on the pages of the national dailies and claims that only five members of staff had died during his tenure as against 42 earlier claimed by the staff.
On the resolutions of the unions, the communique reads in part: "The members of staff are law-abiding and at their variuos duty posts; though we mourn our dead colleagues, the unions/associations have the names and file numbers of staff who died within the last three years; that the association of resident doctors, Ido-Ekiti is supported by all unions/associations in their plan to set up a Trust Fund for families of the deceased; that the CMD, Dr. L.M Ayodele is becoming rather too unprofessional and desperate in his bid to achieve his second term ambition; that the activities of the current management as led by Dr. Ayodele are not in line with the change agenda of President Mohammadu Buhari, that the entire staff lack confidence in the leadership of the current management of FETHI , Ido-Ekiti as led by Dr. Ayodele , hence members of staff hereby pass a vote of no confidence on his leadership and hereby call on the Federal Government led by President Buhari to effect a change forthwith in the leadership of the institution."
