NMA Pays Courtesy Visit to FMC, Ikole-Ekiti.

The Nigerian Medical Association, Ekiti State Chapter, led by its Chairman, Dr Oreyemi Ifedayo, paid a courtesy visit to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ikole-Ekiti, on Monday, 20th October 2025, as part of activities marking its 2025 Physicians’ Week.

The visit, according to the chairman, was aimed at strengthening the cordial relationship between the association and the hospital’s leadership, and also to express gratitude to the Medical Director FMC, Ikole-Ekiti, Prof. Johnson Dare Ogunlusi, for his unwavering support of the association.

During the visit, Dr Oreyemi expressed the association’s gratitude to Prof. Ogunlusi for granting them audience and supporting their growth and development whenever the association beckoned on him.

‘We thank you for all you have done for us over the years, which has in no small measure influenced the growth and development of our association,’ he said.

Dr Oreyemi further extolled Prof. Ogunlusi for his visionary leadership, which he said has transformed the hospital in terms of service delivery, manpower capability and infrastructure.

‘The hospital has significantly improved in all ramifications, and we are proud of this. There have been significant improvements since my last visit; it is evident in the quality of service delivery and the personnel on the ground. All these are reflections of your transformational leadership.’ he stated.

He assured Prof. Ogunlusi of the association’s willingness and readiness to support his vision of transforming the hospital into a world-class medical centre of excellence.

He, however, appealed to Prof. Ogunlusi to support the association’s call for better welfare, a conducive working environment and security for doctors. Similarly, he enjoined the Medical Director to help facilitate the onboarding of doctors in the hospital on the platform of the association.

While reacting to Dr Oreyemi’s request, Prof. Ogunlusi reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring better welfare for doctors and other members of staff in the hospital.

He highlighted the measures he has put in place to guarantee better welfare, a conducive working environment and security to include, prompt enrolment of members of staff on the IPPIS platform for swift payment of salaries, plans for the provision of accommodation for doctors coming from locations outside Ikole-Ekiti and adequate security arrangements for the protection of lives and properties of the hospital community.

‘Staff welfare is one of our core values and we will go to any length to ensure our staff are well motivated. Even though we are a young centre, we have gone the extra mile to ensure all our staff have been captured on the IPPIS platform, thus guaranteeing regular payment of salaries and allowances. I wish to add that all our staff started receiving rural allowance the same month we commenced salary payment.  

We also have a cordial working relationship with all the national security outfits, with the police providing a round-the-clock security cover for the facility. To also complement this step, we are currently in the process of recruiting a private security company to support the existing security arrangement. 

Our target is to provide staff quarters for medical personnel who are coming from distant locations to enable them to comfortably settle down here and work,’ he said.

On the onboarding of doctors on the NMA platform, he told the association he was in support of the move to have doctors in the hospital registered with the association. He, however, explained the peculiarity of the circumstances of some doctors in the hospital who are on migration.

He added that doctors migrating from other sister institutions in states other than Ekiti still pay their dues to the state where they migrated from, hence they may not be registered until after they have fully migrated to the hospital.  

The Head of Clinical Services (HCS), Dr Rosiji Babatunde, who gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the management, appreciated the team from NMA for the visit and affirmed that the management will continue to build new bridges with the association and explore new frontiers for meaningful collaborations.

The highlight of the visit was the presentation of a gift by the association to the Medical Director.