Nine weeks after, resident doctors call off strike, resume tomorrow

*Ex-ANAN boss commends NARD for suspending industrial action

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), on Monday morning, suspended its nationwide industrial action, which commenced on August 2, 2021.

The suspension of the strike followed a marathon emergency meeting of the association which stretched from Sunday evening to early Monday morning.

According to the President of the association, Dr. Godiya Ishaya, resident doctors across the country are to resume work tomorrow (Wednesday).

The strike which began on August 2 has been suspended with effect from 8am, Wednesday,

Speaking to newsmen, the NARD president said: “We are suspending the strike for six weeks to give room for movement in some of the items we noticed a stalemate. There was a stalemate in the enrollment of our members into the IPPIS and payment of their areas.

“The government was invoking the trade dispute article 41, that is the ‘no work, no pay.’ And since they have been enrolled into IPPIS, it means there was not going to be any salary into their accounts. Without them being paid, they won’t get their arrears; that was a stalemate. We felt we should give a window to see if the government can start paying them salaries and push their areas into their accounts.

“On the issue of ‘no work, no pay,’ we have not agreed to forfeit our salaries. The strike was unnecessarily prolonged because of the government’s response to the strike. Instead of sitting on the table, the government decided to go to court and that kept prolonging negotiation.”

Ishaya added that the National Executive Council of the Association would meet after six weeks to determine the next line of action.

Meanwhile, a former President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Dr. Samuel Nzekwe, has commended the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) for suspending its nine weeks strike.

Nzekwe gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Sango Ota, Ogun.

He described the suspension of the strike as a good development because the strike mostly affected the poor people.

`The suspension of the strike is a right step in the right direction as this will create more opportunity for Nigerians to have access to good medical attention,“ he said.

The former ANAN president appealed to the Federal Government to always honour and implement agreements made not only with NARD but other unions in the country.

“Whichever agreement the Federal Government made with NARD and other unions, they should try to implement it to the letter in order to forestall the future recurrence of industrial strike,” he said.

NAN recalls that the striking doctors had on Aug.2 embarked on a nationwide indefinite strike to press home their demands.