Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has warned health workers in the state threatening to go on strike that they risk losing their job.
The decision to go on strike, the health workers hinged on the decision of the government to deduct 25% from the salaries of all civil servants.
In its reaction to the threat of the strike by the health workders, in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, the governor said any health worker that did not report for duty should consider him or herself no longer in the employment of the government.
The state government warned that embarking on a strike at the moment would amount to blackmail which it vowed to resist.
Government’s reaction reads in part: “The government rejects the strike threat and will regard persons who fail to show up at their assigned places of work as having forfeited their employment.
“Every health worker that is willing to work is required to sign the register at the Ministry of Health and the health institutions to which they are deployed.
“The ministry of health has the mandate of the government to ensure that residents of Kaduna state are not deprived of public health services.
“Every effort will be made to ensure that health facilities keep functioning, staffed by willing workers who will be guaranteed free and safe access to health facilities.
“Those who are not willing to work are strongly warned against criminal actions such as attempts to impede access to workplaces, harass willing workers or to sabotage facilities and equipment.”
