TheCable

The proposed indefinite strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) scheduled to commence Thursday, has been suspended for one week.

The association announced this on Wednesday after a meeting with Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives.

The meeting was convened at Dogara’s instance and presided over by him according to a statement issued by his spokesman Turaki Hassan in Abuja.

Dogara while speaking asked for a week for the house to meet with the minister of health and fashion out ways to meet the demands of the resident doctors and address lingering grievances.

Emphsasing that democracy is about the well-being of the citizens, Dogara appealed to the association to understand that the country is presently going through financial challenges.

“It doesn’t matter what faith you profess, for instance, it is clearly stated in the Holy Bible that a labourer should be paid his wages even before his sweat dries,” Dogara said.

“I believe that as a responsible government we know this. It is not like we don’t know. But as to challenges facing you, these are not things that we had discussed before, I only heard through the briefings I was given.

“I appeal to you to give us till next week when I hope we will be able to invite them and we will sit down together and iron out the issues.

“Imagine a situation where all the resident doctors in Nigeria are on strike, what will happen to the people we represent? Democracy’s first promise is life, thereafter liberty, the third promise is the pursuit of happiness. And all of them rest on each other, if you don’t have life, then you cannot begin to talk of liberty, if you don’t have liberty then you cannot begin to talk about happiness.

“So, ultimately, all the three hang on life. When there is no life, there is nothing, democracy is useless because a dead man doesn’t have liberty.

“So for us, democracy itself is life and when you ignore sectors that provide these very essential services that support the health of our people, then we are even scouring democracy itself and its promises and so I agree with you entirely.”

Isaac Adewole, minister of health, had earlier appealed to the doctors, saying the government is working on modalities to address the demands of the union.

He spoke through Boade Akinola, director, media and public relations of the ministry.