I implore His Excellency Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos State, to abolish the “bond” system in Lagos State, especially with doctors, nurses, and other categories of workers in the state. The “bond” system in Lagos State as it is today is unfair and draconian and may have outlived its usefulness.
The way bonds are meant to work is for an employer (Lagos State Health Service Commission) to send its employees for further studies with another employer, where the first employer foots the bill regarding their training. The employee, after their training, is supposed to render service back to their employer for a period or pay back the money used in their training.
However, for Lagos State, this is not the case. In the state, staff have a contract of employment that requires that they be paid salaries. Lagos State now trains its staffers in its hospital facilities. Some remain in the same hospital and the same department.
In other words, the training is with their employer and not another employer. So, the staff are doing what is called in-service training and writing professional examinations.
If an employee decides to leave before completing the required “bond” years, they should only be responsible for repaying the costs associated with their training, such as course fees or examination expenses.
It is important to note that this policy does not exist in the Federal Civil Service. In the Federal, it is only when the employee goes overseas that this obtains and even then, they are only required to pay back the money involved in their training and not their salary.
But Lagos State wants employees to pay back all the salary they earned while they were rendering service. Some staff have been handed hefty bills of about N50m to pay back with no way to verify its accuracy. The maximum time allowed for completing the programme is six years. If an employee finishes the programme in five years and contributes a few years back to the government, a certain overzealous official mistakenly calculates the amount “owed” to be paid back for the entire six years, including the period the employee returned to the Lagos State government.
“The “bond” system in Lagos State, which sets the pace for other states, should be abolished considering the realities of Nigeria today and a welfare package with a human face be put in place”
While Lagos State officials pursue these dedicated employees, those who have embezzled billions of naira in Nigeria remain undisturbed.
Now, in the health sector, service delivery to patients comes before anything. Staff continue to render service to patients, and the time for studying is often after work.
Training at this level is usually self-driven as the person is at work. So, what is the compensation for their work rendered? Invariably nothing. These are people with family to take care of.
The question to ask is why doctors, after going through the hassles of medical school and the stress of residency training and when they should work as consultants, decide to abandon it to go abroad to start from the beginning. But this is actually what happens.
The fellowship programme done in Nigeria is often of no value in many countries abroad. Consultants in Nigeria move abroad to become junior doctors. The postgraduate training they have done in Nigeria is not only a waste but has also become an albatross if they must pay back their salaries for a qualification not recognised or being used. Some of the staff were arms twisted to “sign” these bonds.
Now, these employees probably got into these “bonds”, say 10 years ago. Nigeria then is not the same Nigeria of today. It is not the same in terms of economy, security, and what have you.
There are many factors that are not considered in the “bond” system in Lagos State. Some have been bonded for five years; others have bonded for seven years.
This is too long and has discouraged many from joining the in-service training programme, causing doctor shortages as the few doctors who stayed back are overworked with patients ultimately the ones to bear the brunt. If it were even a “bond” for a year, it would probably encourage more doctors to come in and ensure a steady supply of doctors.
In addition, any doctor who has practised in Nigeria for up to 10 years, when he is allowed to retire voluntarily, should not be tied down. But there are doctors who have given 15 years of their lives and more to the country who are also being tied down. This is unfair. A man or woman who is married may also decide to move closer to their family by going outside Lagos to maintain family unity and keep their marriage. These things need to be factored in.
There was a particular doctor who left everything and fled Nigeria because his life was in danger. Would it be fair to force that person to stay back? Can any state government guarantee the safety of such a person? Of course not. But these “bonds” do not factor in things like that.
To keep doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers in Nigeria goes beyond bonds. It requires welfare packages that take care of individuals and their families, especially their children. Some of the countries these doctors go to abroad have a welcoming approach. They pay for their relocation, their postgraduate “re-training” and support them and their dependants without bonding them.
The “bond” system in Lagos State, which sets the pace for other states, should be abolished considering the realities of Nigeria today and a welfare package with a human face be put in place.
As a stakeholder and a senior citizen of Lagos State, I am deeply concerned about this issue and trust that His Excellency, who provides Lagos State with sterling leadership, would look into it.
.Odoemena writes from Lagos
