Doctors strike: Resident Doctors dare FG, blame Ministry of Labour, Health
By Uthman Salami
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has vowed to continue with the industrial action which started seven days ago despite the threat of implementing ‘no work no pay’ by the federal government.
The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, had earlier spoke on Channels Television programme that the Federal Government would engage 16,000 new doctors to replace those bent on sustaining the strike action so as to end the suffering of Nigerians at public hospitals.
On their part, the association also blamed Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, and Minister of Labour & Productivity Senator Chris Ngige for the prolong strike action by the doctors.
Ngige reacting to the doctors’ stance that the strike which commenced last Monday, would be indefinite, said he had other tool which were permitted by labour laws to invoke section 43 of labour Act.
Section 43 of the Labour Act states, in part, that for the period a worker withdraws his services, the government or his employers are not entitled to pay.
“I have communicated it to NARD,” Ngige said.
He stressed that the Resident Doctors would not receive money for the period they spent on strike and it would never count as a period for pensionable position in their career.
The President, Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, in a live Channels Television’s program on Sunday warned the ministry against imposition of section 34 on doctors demanding their rights.
The NARD President, urged the federal government to hold accountable relevant agencies responsible for addressing the issues previously raised by the association during its earlier strike in April for dereliction of duty.
According to him, “If the federal government wants to toe the line of no work no pay, they should go and look for 16000 Resident Doctors to occupy our place.”
He further charged “Nigerian Doctors and Nigerians to ask those responsible for the strike who have not done their work should either resign or be sacked from the position they hold.
“This is because if you cannot deliver, you should have no responsibility to continue to occupy that position.
“The Minister of health, Minister of Labour, NGCN Registrar, are the ones to be held responsible for the strike we are on. Something needs to be done to them. If they want to implement no-work-no-pay, we will take it that way. On equity, you come with clean hands.”
While the doctors continue to call on the government to fully take up its responsibilities, the Federal Government continues to insist that most of the issues they have raised are state affairs.
The Minister of Health had told journalists in Abuja that seven of 12 matters that were raised by the NARD, were the responsibility of state governments.
Consequently, he raised hope of Nigerians that the resident doctors will resume work on Friday and take up the issues with the state governments rather than embark on the nationwide strike as they had done.
Okhuaihesuyi had criticised the Federal Government for failing to do its own job but rather blaming the doctors for embarking on industrial action.
According to him, “You can’t signed an agreement with everything you have said and since 2nd of August when the strike commenced you haven’t called us.”
Responding to the allegation of not notifying the Federal government before embarking on strike, he said, “We have given several notices to them, with acknowledge copies.
“We gave one on the 25th of June, another one three weeks before the meeting, we also gave another one when we suspended the strike. We have close to eight notices to them.
“Even on the 2nd of August, 2021, we informed them about the outcome of the resolution made at the meeting. We told them NEC unanimously said we should embark on strike, 8:00 a.m on the 2 of July. It’s quite sad that they are now denying everything.”
On the issue of infusing names which are not meant to be on the lists of those entitled for Medical Training Funds by the Resident Doctors, he explained that, “We are medical doctors not secretaries. This means that we are not in charge of enlistment for payment of medical training funds.
“The body that regulates medical Residents training is National Post-Graduate College. The lists for payment of medical residents fund is done by NPGC who are in charge of training of Residents. Secondly, the list is submitted to the federal ministry of health who vet the list.”
He had expressed that, “The relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that are yet to carry out their duties in ensuring that these issues are addressed should be held accountable, because this strike will not happen if they did their jobs.
“Some members of the association are being paid N5,000 as hazard allowance when individuals in the Upper and Lower chambers of the National Assembly are receiving between N1.2 million to N3 million or more for hardship allowance.
“We need to get our priorities right. We lost 19 residents to COVID-19 and as it stands, their families are yet to receive any death benefits.
“We cannot ignore the fact that the doctors that died in the line of duty during the COVID-19 pandemic have families and children that attend schools and need to feed and survive,” he said.
Okhuaihesuyi stated that although the association was aware of the difficulty the absence of doctors in hospitals would pose to patient care, the strike was necessary to ensure doctors were no longer denied their dues to enable them to function optimally.
“Our demands are not new to the government.
“The salary structure of doctors needs to be improved because there is non-payment of salaries to many health workers in some states and also an irregular salary structure in others. Some health workers receive incomplete salaries.
“For example, doctors in Imo state have not received their salary for about eight months and there is non-salary payment for doctors at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital for 19 months.
“There is non-payment of salary for doctors at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Ekiti for over one year.
“Doctors need to be captured into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to streamline the salary structure, ensure conformity and consistency in payment,” said the NARD president.
Okhuaihesuyi also urged the federal government to address the issues raised by the association to prevent further strikes leading to lack of access to healthcare by the public.
