TheCable

The national assembly has invited the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to a meeting over its strike action.

Innocent Orji, NARD president, said he has received an invitation to attend a meeting with the leadership of the national assembly.

The resident doctors began a five-day warning strike on Wednesday due to the federal government’s refusal to meet its demands.

Some of the demands include massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals; immediate infrastructural development in hospitals and an allocation of at least 15 percent of the budgetary provisions to health; immediate payment of the 2023 medical residency training fund (MRTF); and the immediate increment in the consolidated medical salary structure (CONMESS) to the tune of 200% of the gross salary of doctors.

The withdrawal of the anti-brain drain bill from the national assembly is also one of the prominent demands of the association.

On Tuesday, Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, said the federal government was already negotiating with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on a pay rise for doctors.

He also said the health minister would instruct teaching hospitals to employ ad-hoc staff for the strike period and pay them with the money meant for the resident doctors.

Speaking on Thursday during an Arise Television programme, Orji said his association has had no negotiation with the federal government since the strike was called.

“All we are hearing on the media is that the government is negotiating with us but nobody has called us for any negotiation except that they are negotiating with other associations, but not NARD,” he said.

“It was only this afternoon, a few minutes ago that I was informed of a meeting convened by the national assembly for tomorrow. It was just this afternoon I saw the invitation but outside that, there has not been any negotiation since Monday when our national executive council had an extraordinary session and declared the five-day strike that commenced yesterday.”

On the federal government replacing the striking doctors with ad hoc staff, Orji described the move as “strange” since a major part of NARD’s demands is for the federal government to quickly replace the clinical staff that have left the system.

“We have been saying that we have a massive manpower shortage in our hospitals and we do not have enough numbers to contain the influx of patients in hospitals across the country,” he said.

“So, if the government that has refused to do that is now waking up to employ ad hoc staff as a way for resolving this issue, I wish them good luck. But just like I have been saying, as long as they do not negotiate in good faith, the crisis in the health sector will continue, our members are watching.

“All we have heard so far from the government are just threats and those threats they are issuing will be what will escalate the crisis we have already.

“So, I want to call on them again to do the right thing. Our demands are clear, they are specific, they are achievable and these are things they can achieve in a matter of days.”