MR BABATUNDE RAJI FASOLA’S REGRETTABLE CONDUCT AND STANDARDS IN GOVERNANCE……

Background:

You will be aware of the issues of the recent past between the administration of Mr Babatunde Raji Fasola (SAN), former governor of Lagos State, and the Medical Guild.

These were; the employment of young doctors just beginning their careers as ‘contract’ workers, with no career path, the non-employment of resident doctors in the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, and the discriminatory application of the state’s ‘no work, no pay’ policy to members of the Medical Guild in the period from May 2012 to September 2014. Six other groups and unions had embarked on strike in that period, and none had this policy applied to them.

Our initial approach at resolution of these issues was to employ advocacy.

We had protested to the Fasola administration about these actions, beginning in 2012, and continuing in 2013 and 2014. These protestations fell on deaf ears, in spite of interventions by the national body of the Nigerian Medical Association, the national Association of Resident Doctors appealing for these actions to be reversed.

The Lagos State House of Assembly, through its committee on health also intervened, acknowledging that they had investigated our claims and found them to be true.

They directed that the government should pay salaries for September 2014, as we worked in that month, and that other salaries be paid for the sake of peace.

The Fasola administration at the time convened a meeting of the Guild, the state NMA and the boards of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, (LASUTH) and the Lagos State Health Service Commission, at which we were convinced to write a letter, which was practically dictated to us by both boards, to government. The response at the time was a terse letter stating that the Fasola administrations’ decision was ‘ironclad, and we should forget about our salaries and concentrate on our jobs’.

Following this, we embarked on an exhaustive and expansive media campaign in a bid to bring the issues to the public space and avoid a strike which in our opinion would only affect members of the public.

The Fasola administration responded to protests only when we threatened a strike, with an ultimatum given on the 29^th of December, 2014.

We were invited to a meeting with the then Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris on the 16^th of January 2015, at which the then Honourable Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr Wale Ahmed, was present, and told that the government was willing to revisit the issues.

The next day, the 17^th of January 2015, a day before the ultimatum given by the Guild was to expire, we were invited to a meeting at the Lagos House, Marina.

Present at the meeting were;

The then Governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fasola(SAN), the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, the Honourable Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr Wale Ahmed, the Chairman, NMA, Lagos State, Dr Tope Ojo, the Chairman, Medical Guild, Dr ‘Biyi Kufo, the 2^nd Vice-Chairman, NMA Lagos State, Dr Olusegun Akinwotu, the Secretary of NMA Lagos State, Dr Babajide Saheed, the Secretary of the Medical Guild, Dr Sunday Luro, and the Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State NMA, Dr Ibrahim Ogunbi.

At that meeting, the then governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fasola(SAN) promised to resolve the issues, and pay the withheld salaries. He asked us to postpone our ultimatum by two weeks, and asked Dr Idris how many months were involved. Dr Idris told him and the meeting ended with handshakes.

At a general meeting of the Guild the next day, the 18^th of January 2014, we optimistically extended our ultimatum by four weeks, which would expire after the presidential elections, scheduled at the time for the 14^th of February 2015.

Sadly, in spite of the Governor’s promise, the issue remained unresolved. Indeed, some members of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) who had the ‘no work, no pay’ policy applied to them in December 2015 following a strike they embarked upon, had these salaries returned at the end of January 2015, portraying the double standards employed by the Fasola administration.

The Guild was left with little choice but to embark on a warning strike from the 18^th to the 20^th January 2015, in which we provided emergency services.

The Fasola administration still did not uphold its promise and the Guild embarked on an indefinite strike from Monday the 16^th of March 2015, after a meeting of the Guild on the 4^th of March 2015 had given a ten-day grace period to the Fasola administration to resolve the issues.

In spite of the fact that we provided emergency services during the strike action, Governor Fasola responded with threats and intimidation.

Eventually, a meeting of the body of Medical Directors of the Lagos State Health Service Commission, the then Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, and the officers of the Guild took place on the 24^th of March 2015, attended by the second Vice-Chairman of the Lagos State NMA, Dr Segun Akinwotu. At this meeting we were reminded of the Governor Fasola’s ‘promise’ and urged to suspend our strike, with the Commissioner stating that the Governor intended to keep his promise and that he would do all he could to ensure the Governor kept his promise.

Based upon this understanding, we suspended our strike on Wednesday the 25^th of March 2015.

Governor Fasola summoned us to a meeting on the 20^th of April 2015, without any prompting from us, at the office of the Governor.

Present at the meeting were;

 

1. His Excellency – the Governor of Lagos State(now former), Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN);
2. The Head of the Lagos State Public Service, Mrs. Folashade Jaji;

3.

3. The Honourable Commissioner for Health (now former), Dr. Jide Idris;
5. The Honourable Commissioner for Special Duties (now former), Dr. Wale Ahmed;
6. The Honourable Commissioner for Justice (now former), Mr. Babatunde Ipaye;
7. The Honourable Commissioner for Finance (now former), Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi;

as well as the following doctors;

1. The Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos State Branch, Dr. Tope Ojo
2. The Chairman, Medical Guild, Lagos, Dr ‘Biyi Kufo
3. The 2nd Vice-Chairman, NMA Lagos, Dr Olusegun Akinwotu

The Governor (now former), Mr. Babatunde  Raji Fashola stated “I called you here to tell you that I intend to fulfill my promise. I had promised you that I will pay you and I intend to keep my promise. I can’t say exactly when but I will do it before I go”.

The Chairman NMA Lagos thanked His Excellency, and the Chairman, Medical Guild thanked His Excellency and prayed for him.

His Excellency exchanged handshakes at that point and adjourned the meeting.

We waited in the belief that Mr Babatunde Raji Fasola had made his ‘promise’ in good faith.

Time passed, and with no word from the Governor we wrote a reminder to him on the 18^th of May 2015. We stated that we believed he would keep his promise. He did not respond, and during his final week in office, we sent emails and text messages to him about his promise, none of which he responded to.

Mr Fasola, Governor of Lagos State from 2007 to 2015, did not keep his ‘promise’.

We must note that, Mr Babatunde Raji Fasola’s tenure as Governor brought up more crises in the health sector than, it is likely, all the administrations before him put together! In spite of that fact, and the general belief that he was carrying out a vendetta on members of the Guild, we still believed that honour and integrity would be cardinal factors in one’s personality at the level which he was.

4.

That belief, as it turned out, was misplaced.

 Mr Fasola’s conduct is extremely regrettable, and unbecoming of a person in the position of the chief executive of a state.

We cannot but be bewildered at the extremes of duplicity displayed by the former Governor.

We can only conclude that this conduct is not happenstance, and has played out because our society holds its leaders to the lowest of standards, and sometimes even none at all.

We must state clearly, that in our opinion, this approach to prescribing standards for our leaders portends extreme danger for our nation.

If we accept that leaders can do ‘anything’ and get away with these deeds, there would stand no reason for prescribing standards for anyone else!!!

 

Signed: