OAU MDCAN embarks on strike over salary disparity
By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo
The Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association (MDCAN) of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, has directed its members to commence an industrial action on February 3, 2025.
This decision follows a 21-day ultimatum issued to the Vice Chancellors of universities in the Southwest Zone to implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) for Clinical Lecturers, as is done in all medical colleges in Nigerian universities.
Specifically, the union referred to the situation at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, demanding the commencement of the CONMESS salary structure for Clinical Lecturers.
The OAU MDCAN Chairman, Dr. Olufemi Ogundipe, and General Secretary, Dr. Tajudin Adetunji, in a statement jointly signed and made available to newsmen in Osogbo on Thursday, said academic activities at the College of Health Sciences involving clinical lecturers would be shut down.
They emphasized that the union can no longer tolerate the huge disparity in emoluments and the income loss resulting from the non-implementation of CONMESS at OAU.
“We are demanding the immediate payment of CONMESS to all clinical lecturers at OAU to save the future of medical education at this foremost citadel of learning,” the statement partly read.
They also lamented the shortage of clinical lecturers and the declining state of medical education in Nigeria, attributing these issues to the nonchalant attitude of the authorities in addressing the challenges plaguing the country’s health sector.
A clinical lecturer at the university, who preferred to remain anonymous, warned that urgent measures must be taken to avert the strike, stating that the strike will affect the examination of final-year dental students, which is scheduled to commence on Monday.
He further stated, “Other professional exams scheduled to hold in February may also be in jeopardy. Our resolve as an association is to go ahead with the strike. And with that position, the effects on students’ examinations and other academic activities are better imagined than experienced.”
