TheCable

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) says it fixed its protest on Wednesday to give the federal government sufficient time to intervene.

NARD had announced that its members will embark on peaceful nationwide protests from August 9 over unmet demands.

The association said the protests will involve picketing of the federal ministry of health, the office of the head of the civil service of the federation, and the federal and state tertiary health institutions across the country.

Speaking on Sunday when featured on a Channels Television programme, Emeka Orji, NARD president, confirmed that during the protests, the association will put locks and chains at entrances of some health institutions and will not allow operations to go on.

The NARD president appealed to the government to intervene before Wednesday, saying the association believes the issues can be resolved.

“We’ve done everything we can to resolve this but our members feel and they believe the government has not done enough when they have the capacity to do more,” he said.

“During the meeting yesterday, we had options of starting this protests on Monday but we shifted it to give the federal government enough time to intervene.

“We simply cannot be on this indefinite strike action when it seems we are being ignored.

“We believe the government should do more to resolve these issues. They can resolve these things in a day or two.

“Let them identify the very urgent demands we’ve made, try to solve them by tomorrow, and then sit down with us to put timelines on other demands.

“We are reasonable people and willing to work. Doctors are leaving everyday and the ones left are breaking down. This is an emergency and the government should treat it as such.”

BACKGROUND

On July 26, resident doctors started an indefinite strike over the failure of the government to implement the demands of its members.

Parts of the demands include payment of the 2023 medical residency training fund (MRTF); immediate release of the circular on one-for-one replacement and upward review of the consolidated medical salary structure (CONMESS).

Others are payment of outstanding arrears of consequential adjustment, hazard and skipping allowance.

The federal government has ordered the stoppage of salaries of NARD members who would embark on the strike.