Resident Doctors Reject 25% Basic Salary Increment, Say Strike Continues

Doctors may not resume duties in hospitals across the country soon as the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) yesterday rejected the 25 percent salary increment dangled before them by the federal government.

 The association said the ongoing strike by resident doctors will continue indefinitely until their demands are addressed by the government

NARD disclosed this in a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos.

 The meeting which began on Monday had “Bullying in Medical Practice: a Matter of Perspective?” as its theme.

The communiqué was signed jointly by NARD’s National President, Dr Innocent Orji, Secretary-General, Dr Chikezie Kelechi and the Publicity and Social Secretary, Dr Umar Musa.

The 25 percent increment in the basic salary of doctors was contained in the circular released by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) in the wake of the industrial action embarked on by the resident doctors.

Resident Doctors’ Strike Cripples Hospitals

The doctors also rejected the casualisation of doctors under any guise in all tertiary health institutions in the country, warning that this could be a subject of industrial action in the near future if not nipped in the bud now.

The doctors insisted on the immediate release of the circular on the One-for-One policy for the replacement of exited clinical workers for implementation, saying they cannot continue to watch their members lose their lives and break down under the weight of work overload occasioned by massive depletion of clinical staff in hospitals on account of brain drain.

They stated: “We cannot continue to watch our members lose their lives and break down under the weight of work overload occasioned by massive depletion of clinical staff in our hospitals on account of brain drain.

“We demand as a matter of urgency, the immediate payment of the 2023

Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF). To demand the payment of all salaries and arrears including the salary arrears of 2014-2016, arrears of hazard allowance, arrears of consequential

adjustment of the minimum wage, and promotion arrears to our deserving members without further delay.”

The association also called on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to reverse the downgrading of the membership certificate.

It added that continuing with the downgrading of the certificates would only reduce the value placed on the postgraduate medical training in Nigeria.

The group said it embarked on the strike action on Wednesday after many months and years of non-implementation of agreements reached with the government.

“NEC observed the attempts made by some well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the issues at stake but expressed surprise that these have not resulted in any meaningful solutions.

“We have observed the various meetings held with government agents and officials over the demands of NARD, the various memoranda and agreements reached, and the unfortunately slow wheel of progress of the government’s implementation processes.

“NEC also observed with shock that up till now, about two months after the agreed date, the government has not yet released the circular on one-for-one replacement of exited clinical workers,” it noted.

The association said that this was in negligence of the morbid and mortal effects of the massive brain drain on its members still working in the country and Nigerian citizens.