The Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has pacified staff members of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife who were recently disengaged by the hospital management with a sum of N10 million and 1,000 bags of rice, with a view to ameliorating their suffering occasioned by the nonpayment of their 14 months unpaid salaries.
Ooni Ogunwusi who announced the donation while addressing the angry youths who occupied his Ile Oodua Palace on Monday, assured them that he is currently working with relevant stakeholders including the Federal Ministry of Health among others to resolve the crisis.
A statement containing the monarch’s gestures was issued by the palace media office on Tuesday.
The first class monarch was quoted as saying, “It is your right to protest if you feel injustice has been done to you all, but I want you to apply wisdom in order to achieve beneficial results. I am dedicating myself and the ancient throne of Oduduwa to fight this fight to a logical conclusion.
“I am happy that you all have demonstrated core Omoluabi ethos of descendants of Oduduwa by allowing operations to resume at the hospital upon receiving my message. You have honoured me and I pray that God will honour you all.
“Beyond that, I wish to assure you that the Palace will support your dreams and aspirations in life even beyond the OAUTHC. I believe that most of you have big dreams and you are only looking for how to achieve it but I am calling on you all to use me as a ladder to reach your peak in life.” The Ooni said.
Speaking on behalf of the disengaged workers, Samson Falope, revealed that the hospital Management served them a circular last week Wednesday, 31st January 2024, disengaging the over 1,500 workers from their duty posts, after serving the institution for about 15 months with most of them not getting paid a dime.
On their move to create awareness about their predicament, Falope explained that they were left with no choice than to converge at the hospital complex main gate on Thursday, February 1, 2024, in order to seek the audience with the management but the Chief Medical Director of OAUTHC, Professor John Okeniyi and his team did not show up.
Falope, an estate officer II of the Civil and Maintenance Department, lamented that they were taken through all recruitment and verification processes after which they were issued required documents with which they have been working since 2022.
He said, “Kabiyesi, you have wiped our tears and we pray that God Almighty perfect all your affairs sir. We cannot thank you enough especially as these people (OAUTHC Management) almost turned us to nuisance after using us for about 15 months without pay.
“We were interviewed, screened, taken through orientation programmes organised by the management, oath form was given to us, appointment letter was given to us, we had resumed our duties, observing both day and night shifts, only to be told to go home after serving with all we have for about 15 months.
“Our children are out of school due to the fact that we can no longer pay their school fees, we have aged parents at home, nobody to take care of them; we do not know where to start again, so, we have no other choice than to embark on a peaceful protest, shutting the main gates of the hospital complex but allowing emergencies to enter the hospital for immediate treatment.”
The Point had reported that some policemen had invaded the hospital, disrupted the protest and opened the main gates for full activities.
