The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has suspended its indefinite strike after 29 days of industrial action, disrupting medical services across hospitals in protest over poor working conditions and unpaid allowances.
The 11,000 resident doctors across 91 teaching hospitals agreed to resume work after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government, subject to seven key conditions set by the association.
They suspended the strike during an Extraordinary National Executive Council meeting held on Saturday, the outcome of which was confirmed to newsmen by the Secretary-General of NARD, Dr Shuaibu Ibrahim.
Ibrahim disclosed that conditions include the reinstatement of the Lokoja doctors, the release of the Professional Allowance Table, payment of promotion arrears, payment of salary arrears in specific hospitals, implementation of an upgrade for doctors who passed Part I exams and met entry-level requirements, implementation of the specialist allowance, and resolution of the Membership Certificate issue.
He said, “The strike was suspended following the Memorandum of Understanding we signed with the Federal Government regarding the seven conditions we would consider before suspending the strike.”
According to him, two of the seven demands have already been met, while the remaining five are expected to be fulfilled within four weeks, in line with the MoU.
“The Professional Allowance Table has been released, and a directive has been given to the Head of Service that the entry level for doctors should be CONMESS 3. So, the strike has been suspended immediately,” he added.
However, Ibrahim stressed that the association would not hesitate to resume the industrial action if the Federal Government fails to meet the remaining demands within the agreed timeframe.
“If the remaining demands are not met before the agreed timeline, we will resume the strike,” he warned.
Also, the President of NARD, Dr. Mohammad Suleiman, in a message on social media titled, “NARD Total, Indefinite and Comprehensive Strike: The Journey Thus Far, It is not over, until it is over,” noted that the NEC of the association resolved to suspend the ongoing total, indefinite, and comprehensive strike.
Suleiman said after a series of conciliatory meetings with the Federal Government, an MoU was signed detailing where the state of the 19-point demand of NARD stands.
“The outstanding issues at the stage of implementation are as follows: Promotion Arrears: Compilation hasn’t been completed by CMDs/MDs, and as such, the deadline for payment is in four weeks; Salary Arrears: Deadline for payment has been agreed at four weeks; Specialist Allowance: OHCSF has issued a clear direction on this. NSIWC to take appropriate action with a view to implementation; Lokoja 5: The committee report recommended reabsorption back into FTH Lokoja, to be fully implemented within two weeks.
“Observations from the MoU signed between NARD and the government: The MOU as signed is summarily posited as below: NARD is in the process of completing the processes of the failed payments/omissions on the 25/35 per cent and Accoutrement Allowance for NARDites for payment; list of Residents for upgrade are currently being awaited from centre leaders to ensure proper completion of the upgrade processes; the PAT has been released; skipping/entry Level issue has been resolved with a clear directive from OHCSF.
“HO (House Officers) issues have been resolved; the directive on stopping all obnoxious clauses for Locum has been issued to CMDs/MDs in the interim; the advisory on limiting call duties and ensuring breaks in between calls has been sent to CMDs/MDs in the interim; the Committees for locum and work hour regulation are to each take two months to produce a working policy moving forward; Collective Bargaining Agreement is to continue as soon as possible; Consultant Cadre for other Health Professionals to be discussed; and special pensions committee to resume its sittings,” he highlighted.
The NARD President stated that the NEC reviewed the issues and decided to suspend the total, indefinite, and comprehensive strike for four weeks as a gesture of goodwill, allowing time to monitor the implementation of their demands.
“Progress has been made, significantly. This is simply because of the efforts and convictions of NARDites across the country. Mistakes have also been made; kindly rest those mistakes solely on my shoulders as President.
“My next task as President is to use this four-week window carved out by the NEC (in good faith) to ensure that we once again take our case to Nigerians and the Federal Government.
“Failure to ensure the full implementation of the above A, B, C, D, will mean the lifting of the suspension on the strike action by NEC and the resumption of TICS,” he said.
He urged members to stay determined and sincere, expressing confidence in success, and stated that the four-week countdown will begin on Monday, December 1.
