Doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have suspended its planned nationwide daily protests after a closed-door meeting with the Senate on Tuesday.
The President of NARD, Emeka Orji, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday morning.
“We met with the Senate president, majority and minority leaders and Whip. So, the planned protest slated for Wednesday has been suspended and we will review it again in 72 hours.”
NARD on Saturday said it would embark on peaceful protests from Wednesday, August 9, 2023, if the Federal Government did not meet its demands.
NARD also said it would be picketing the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, and the federal and state tertiary health institutions in the country.
The decision followed the directive by the Federal Government to the Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of federal tertiary hospitals to commence the enforcement of the “no work, no pay” policy against the striking doctors.
The doctors embarked on an indefinite industrial action on July 26, following the failure of the government to meet their demands.
The doctors are demanding the implementation of the one-for-one replacement policy for healthcare workers; the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to discontinue the downgrading of the membership certificate issued by the West African Postgraduate Medical and Surgical Colleges; 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; among others.
Meanwhile, the FG had in a circular dated August 1, 2023, directed the Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors in the Federal Tertiary Hospitals to implement the ‘no work, no pay’ policy on the striking members of NARD.
Our correspondent had reported how the strike disrupted health services in health facilities in major parts of the country.
In a press statement on Tuesday night, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, applauded the doctors for calling off the protest and also working towards calling off the strike.
According to the statements signed by his media unit, Akpabio said the doctor’s demands are well noted and will be addressed as soon as a new minister is appointed for the health sector.
” I thank you on behalf of the Senate for honoring us with your decision not only to cancel the planned public protest but to also call off the strike in the interest of the suffering masses,” he said.
“Your demands are well noted and let me assure you that as soon as a Minister in charge of Health is appointed, the Senate will work with him or her to expeditiously address all your grievances.”
He said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is doctors friendly and that explains the large number of medical practitioners appointed into his cabinet.
He noted that strike by medical practitioners should not be allowed even for a day because of the impact it creates in the polity.
“That is why the senate is determined to ensure through interactions and consultation with relevant offices, the amicable settlement of the impasse is reached.”
The Nigerian Medical Association has also asked the Federal Government to meet the demands of the striking members of the NARD.
The NMA made the call in a press statement signed by its President, Dr Uche Ojinmah, and made available to our correspondent on Tuesday.
The NMA in its statement said the labour dispute is avoidable.
“The Nigerian Medical Association as the umbrella body for all doctors in Nigeria is the mother association to the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, and hence as a matter of policy must protect and promote her interest.
“It is our belief that this avoidable labour dispute has gone on for far too long to the detriment of the common Nigerian citizen.
“We hereby call on our government to quickly conclude measures to resolve all areas of disagreement and eschew all punitive responses in the interest of industrial harmony,” the statement partly read.
The medical body also urged NARD to extend a gesture of goodwill to the government in the interest of Nigerians.
“NMA also calls on NARD to extend a gesture of goodwill towards the Government in the Interest of our suffering patients and fellow citizens.
“Let us put aside all obstacles (contrived or real) towards speedy resolution of this dispute for the love of the Nation. A better Nigeria is a tangible reality if we all do right by this nation,” it added.
