We respectfully seek your intervention and public advocacy concerning the prolonged non-payment of interns working at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC).
For the past eleven months, interns have rendered uninterrupted clinical services at OAUTHC. However, only six months’ salary has been paid, and even that was not in full. To date, our December salary remains unpaid, alongside several months of outstanding arrears.
Despite this situation, interns are still being mandated to report for duty. Although an industrial action is currently ongoing, interns have been specifically instructed to continue working without pay. Repeated pleas, formal complaints, and peaceful protests have yielded no meaningful resolution. The consistent explanation given by hospital management is that payment has not been released from Abuja.
This explanation, however, is misleading. Unlike other staff whose salaries are federally funded, interns’ remuneration is paid directly by the hospital management, not from Abuja. Notably, other hospital staff have continued to receive their salaries, while interns remain unpaid.
This situation has placed immense financial, emotional, and psychological strain on young healthcare professionals who are expected to work under demanding conditions without compensation. It raises serious concerns about labour rights, workplace ethics, and the welfare of medical interns in Nigeria.
We humbly appeal to Arise TV investigate this matter and lend its voice to our plight, so that the appropriate authorities can be held accountable and justice can be served.
Thank you for your commitment to truth, accountability, and the protection of vulnerable workers.
Mayowa