Doctors Vow To Continue Strike As FG Fails To Convene Meeting
THE Nigerian government has not contacted its striking doctors since they proceeded on indefinite strike on April 1, leadership of the medical practitioners told The ICIR on Tuesday, April 6. Consequently, doctors say the strike will continue as long as government fails to take them and the health sector seriously. The strike affects at least 74 public hospitals across the nation, including those owned by federal and state governments, crippling services. Doctors in the country, under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), agreed to down tools over unmet demands by the government, including payment of salaries for house officers who have been owed for three months and resident doctors who are owed between three and six months. NARD’s decision to embark on strike was contained in a communique issued after its Extra-ordinary National Executive Council Meeting in Abuja on March 28. Speaking with our reporter on Tuesday April 6, NARD President Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi said the federal government had not contacted NARD since its members proceeded on strike and had not scheduled a meeting. At meetings with doctors in the past, the government had been represented by Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige; ministers and other top functionaries of Federal Ministry of Health; Budget Office of the Federation, Head of Civil Service of the Federation, among others. “The government promised to send NARD leadership an invite. As at today, it has not sent us any invite. We have not seen any invite from the Ministry of Labour (whose responsibility is it to bring aggrieved employees of government for a dialogue),” Okhuaihesuyi said.
