The Federal Government has asked the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to end its strike. Following the expiration of a two-week ultimatum presented to the Federal Government, NARD went on indefinite strike on July 26.
The doctors are calling for the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to stop downgrading membership certificates issued by West African Postgraduate Medical and Surgical Colleges, as well as the immediate payment of all salary arrears, the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, a new hazard allowance, and the domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act.
At a press conference in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju, pleaded with the physicians to consider the lives of many Nigerians at stake and call an end to the strike.
Daju promised the doctors that the new administration and relevant agencies were working around the clock to handle the difficult problems and meet their demands.
“We are currently using this medium to appeal to NARD that please, Nigerians are dying in troops,” she said. “It is correct; the health sector is critical. Not to say that other industries aren’t vital; they all are, but we all know how crucial medical doctors are to us. If you are ill today and you cannot go to a hospital, what happens?
“People are dying, people cannot care for themselves. So, I am begging them and I am lending my voice to the voice of all members of the government who have appealed to them, to please call off their strike and go back to work.”
“I know that your parent ministry alongside other government agencies are working round the clock to ensure that this matter is sorted out.”
Speaking on what the government was doing to address the problem, Daju said: “We have had various levels of discussions with them. We have gone to the highest level as it is and discussed it with them. If you have gone to the highest level where they have told you ‘Give us some time, that we are looking into your issues and your matters,’ we expected with all sense of responsibility that NARD would see reasons with the government.
“I know that maybe between May 19th and now, they assumed that what they requested would be given immediately but, some of the issues have been dealt with by the federal government.
“But, since this new administration came into office, concerted efforts have been made by the federal government, even the National Assembly had met with them on this same matter.
“There are two main contending issues. Payment of the 2023 medical Residency Training Fund and One-on-one placement of exited doctors.
“The Perm Sec explained that on the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund, the government appealed to the doctors to kindly await when ministers are in place because permanent Secretaries have a threshold and what the government is expected to pay is far and above the threshold of the Permanent Secretaries.
“Very soon, we are sure that ministers are going to be in place and we told them that they should just tally for a while. The government is not resting on its oars. We understand the plight of where you are coming from.
“We pleaded with them to call off their strike. To be honest the Federal Ministry of Health, their parent ministry, actually goes to the President on the issues in the health sector for him to intervene and they were equally informed about this.
“On efforts made to resolve the issue of replacement of exited doctors.” Daju further explained that: “The office of the head of the civil service is attending to that. A committee was set up for that and they were equally informed that a committee had been instituted the federal ministry of Labour is a member of the committee alongside the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant government agencies but we need to determine and establish who exactly have exited because we are all guided as civil servants by the public service rules.”
She noted that “There is a difference between exit from an office and study leave. There is a leave of absence. There are different kinds of leave. So, we need to be sure, for you to demand from the federal government that you want one-on-one replacement immediately, you know how all these are run.
“We have pleaded again that just give us a little more time that when recommendations have been made by the committee we will bring them forth and act but to no avail.”
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