Even though they died in the line of duty, the renowned Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist also bemoaned the government’s failure to pay their death benefits and insurance until now.

Professor Ujah also bemoaned the fact that doctors, particularly in the South East, were owed up to two years’ salaries, a situation he claimed had already harmed their morale and urged the affected states to clear the backlog.

He said: “NMA right from the beginning of the pandemic has been very proactive, through advocacy and constructive engagements, dialogue, and conversations

“As soon as Covid was announced, we put in place mechanism. We told the government what it should do and they would not listen, otherwise, we would not have had the many cases we had.

“In the first four weeks of Covid, if Nigeria had shut her borders, we wouldn’t have had this because it was an imported disease and all we needed to do was close the airlines, airports, and land borders and stay for at least four weeks, we would not have suffered this much.

“But even at that, we thank God because Nigerian doctors and other health workers were up to the task.

“They demonstrated resilience, commitment and that was why even in the face of inadequacies, we were working and we lost over 20 to 30 doctors to Covid and you know once a life is lost, it is not replaceable.

“The worst thing is that their death insurances have not been paid.  And we think that they should be paid.

“We believe that their deaths benefits and insurances should be paid. And one way of encouraging the health workers is to motivate them.

“Some of these basic things can be fulfilled.  It is our firm belief that with the right support from the governments, our efforts to provide excellent health services to Nigerians will continue to improve.

“Everything in Nigeria that is bad is endemic. Poverty is endemic.  Inflation is endemic.  But we are not saying that doctors should go on strike.

“Doctors only go on strike if they have no other option. All we have to say is that we should be proactive in responding to doctors’ needs.

“Can you imagine some states having salary arrears of up to 21 months?” Do you think the doctors in those states will give it their all?

“And the majority of these debts are owed in the Southeast.” That is the reality of the situation. This is something for which we have statistics.”