The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) will tomorrow begin a five-day warning strike over Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.
The association, after a six-hour National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Monday, stated the warning strike will commence at 8 am on Wednesday and will end on Monday, May 22.
The resident doctors on April 29 issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its demands. The 14-day ultimatum ended on May 13, 2023.
The association stated the silence by the government in either reaching out or calling for a meeting necessitated its NEC to agree on a nationwide five-day warning strike, in the hopes that within the period, the government will take steps to address their demands.
The NARD, however, stressed that if the current government, although in transition, does not intervene meaningfully, it would embark on a full-blown indefinite strike nationwide.
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In a chat with The Nation, the President of the NARD, Dr. Emeka Orji, however, called on the President-elect, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to bring his experience to bear and intervene in the issue.
He stated that the intervention of the President-elect will send a message of hope to its members, and indeed, Nigerians, that his government will not be a strike-mongering administration.
Chief among the demands by the doctors are: 200 per cent review of their Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), issuance of a circular by the House of Representatives jettisoning the bill by Hon. Ganiyu Johnson, which seeks to stop young doctors from leaving the country without a five-year service period.
Other demands are: issuance of a circular by the Federal Ministry of Health for replacement of doctors and nurses that have left the system with new ones, and the payment of salary arrears, improvement in hazard allowance by state governments, among others.