TheCable

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has asked the federal government to get its priorities right by improving the welfare of health workers across the country.

NARD commenced an indefinite strike on Monday over irregular payment of salaries, allowances, among other issues.

The organisation had, in April, suspended an earlier strike after the federal government promised to meet its demands.

Speaking on the latest development on Monday, Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, NARD president, in an interview with NAN in Abuja, said any attempt to force the doctors to return to work without fulfilling their demands would be resisted.

“The federal government may come out to insist on no-work-no-pay. They may try to threaten us with this directive from tomorrow; they can do that but they should remember that anyone that has not done his work first should also be punished,” he said.

“The relevant government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that are yet to carry out their duties in ensuring that these issues are addressed should be held accountable, because this strike will not happen if they did their jobs.

“Some members of the association are being paid N5,000 as hazard allowance when individuals in the upper and lower chambers of the national assembly are receiving between N1.2 million to N3 million or more for hardship allowance.

“We need to get our priorities right. We lost 19 resident doctors to COVID-19 and as it stands, their families are yet to receive any death benefits.

“We cannot ignore the fact that the doctors that died in the line of duty during the COVID-19 pandemic have families and children that attend schools and need to feed and survive.”

Okhuaihesuyi stated that although the association is aware of the difficulty the absence of doctors in hospitals would pose, the strike is necessary to ensure doctors can function optimally.

“Our demands are not new to the government. The salary structure of doctors needs to be improved because there is non-payment of salaries for many health workers in some states, and also an irregular salary structure in others. Some health workers receive incomplete salaries,” he said.

“For example, doctors in Imo state have not received their salaries for about eight months and there is non-salary payment for doctors at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital for 19 months.

“There is non-payment of salaries for doctors at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ekiti, for over one year.

“Doctors need to be captured into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to streamline the salary structure, ensure conformity and consistency in payment.

“Resident doctors in the FCT have responded to the national call to commence an indefinite strike and they began the strike at 8am, August 2, 2021. In the FCT alone, there are about 15,000 resident doctors.

“Resident doctors constitute the highest number of doctors in teaching hospitals in Nigeria, so invariably, it is mostly us who are at the first point when patients present at the hospital.

“Commencing a strike means that healthcare delivery will be largely affected in hospitals across the country.”