Medical consultants want extension of retirement age to 70 years

Dr Oyeniyi Oyewole, a retired Consultant Anaesthetist at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Lokoja, has urged the Federal Government to extend the retirement age of medical practitioners to 70 years so as to impact more knowledge on the upcoming doctors.

He made the call on Friday during the “Time in Service ceremony”, organised to honour him and his retired colleague, Dr Oluseyi Adeosun, a Consultant Maxilofacial, by the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), FMC Lokoja.

Reports said that the event, tagged: “Preparing Well For Retirement; Challenges & Solutions”, was part of activities to mark MDCAN’s 2021 Biennial General Meeting (BGM).

Oyewole, who also urged the Federal Government to prioritise the health sector, noted that the extension of the retirement age of medical practitioners was to allow them to impact more knowledge to upcoming doctors.

According to him, the number of Nigerian consultants in European countries and the U.S. today are so many.

He added that “if our hospitals are made comfortable, I am ready to stay and train more doctors even after retirement instead of going abroad.

“Money is not everything though it is part of it; I am still agile and ready to impact knowledge at age 60.”

Oyewole stressed the need for the Federal Government and relevant stakeholders to give health sector top priority to reduce brain drain.

He said “if you consider what is happening now, I am not happy at all because professionals are going out of the country.

“Government should therefore do the needful, as no doctor actually likes strike because hospital is our second home.”

On his part, Dr Oluseyi Adeosun, a Consultant Maxilofacial Surgeon, expressed displeasure over incessant strikes associated with the health sector, saying “it is frustrating and discouraging the medical practitioners.”

Adeosun noted that paralysing activities in the hospitals was not making the practice smooth, stressing that the incessant strikes had reduced the quality of practice.

He, however, advised the striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to go back to the negotiation table and discuss with government, “using Compromise Democracy approach.

“We don’t expect government to give us all our demands, but the ones that are possible should be given and NARD members should accept it and go back to work,” he said.

Dr William Adeyemi, the MDCAN Chairman, FMC Lokoja, said the association was happy to celebrate two of its retiring members today as a mark of honour and respect for them.

Adeyemi noted that infrastructure deficit remained the major challenge of the health sector, saying “we have manpower who has the capacity to carry out their best.

“We hope that with time, there would be improvement in equipping most of the hospitals to meet standard.”

In his remarks, Dr Olatunde Alabi, the Medical Director, FMC, Lokoja, described the retiring consultants as “men of sacrifice, compassion, and sincerity, who contributed their best and rendered selfless services.”

According to him, the retiring consultants have laboured and deserve the honour.

Alabi urged upcoming medical professionals to learn by example “as everybody’s retirement day would definitely come one day.”