Lafia Varsity Resident Doctors Moblise For Nationwide Strike

The Association of Resident Doctors of the Teaching Hospital of Federal University of Lafia has vowed to join the national body in the planned nationwide strike slated for January 12.

The president of the association, Jude Yekpowudu, said his members were already mobilised and would comply with the directive of the national body to the letter unless the federal government assents to the agreement reached earlier by both parties.

He made the association’s position known while speaking with journalists yesterday in Lafia.

Yekpowudu decried the federal government’s failure to implement the 19 items in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the national leadership of NARD.

He asked the government to follow the path of honour to avert the looming industrial action.

He said NARD suspended its previous strike in good faith after the government made commitments, but that implementation of those agreements remained outstanding.

The NARD chief said among the contentious issues are the decision by the government to redeploy the five disengaged resident doctors from Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, to other centres across the country, querying the stance despite the recommendations of a committee set up on the matter and that of the House of Representatives that the affected doctors should return to their duty posts.

Yekpowudu called for the reconciliation and payment of failed IPPIS transactions affecting arrears from the 25 and 35 per cent CONMESS and accoutrement allowance reviews, which affect about 40 per cent of members nationwide.

He called for the immediate commencement of specialist allowance payments to all doctors, inclusion of medical and dental house officers in the civil service scheme with full entitlements, and correction of all entry-level placements of doctors.

Yekpowudu called for urgent upgrade and maintenance of infrastructure and medical equipment in all healthcare facilities nationwide to improve the quality of service delivery and train­ing for resident doctors.

“The NEC further demands the immediate re­lease and implementation of corrected tables of pro­fessional allowances and clear enforcement of rela­tivity between CONMESS and CONHESS salary structures,” he noted.

Other issues highlighted are the payment of accrued promotion arrears to medical officers, the reversal of the practice of creating consultant cadres for non-medical personnel and the abolition of the casualisation of doctors, insisting that all locum staff must be regularised in accordance with public service rules.