- Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu 

THERE had been problems with the training which also informed the ongoing doctors' strike. The suspension is with all Federal Government hospitals, State teaching hospitals are not affected. Government suspended the training to allow for critical investigation and come up with better ways to improve the training. 

As a group they have not been participating in the management of Ebola. So it is not as if they will be missed. However, the Federal Government decided to suspend residency training in only its hospitals, we have no power to suspend the " programme in Lagos state and I guess other states are still running, training is still ongoing in private institutions and all institutions that regulate and accredit medical training, so the National Post Graduate Medical College, and the West African Medical College will continue to do their work. But in those hospitals belonging to the Federal Government, we just feel that we needed the space, to take a look and make it better that it is so that we can get the best from the programme. 

It is not a permanent thing; it is just to allow us to appraise the programme. But of course, if you close a programme in a university, you cannot keep the students idle. They either go for another course meanwhile or they wait indefinitely. After that, we will restart the programme. He said he will be advised on the appraisal. We keep forgetting that no doctor has 

been stopped from working. Some of them may want to volunteer for this Ebola response. If any of them volunteers I would recommend them to the President. That is my job as the Minister of Health. In a university when you temporarily suspend a programme, why must you keep the students?