The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) will tomorrow begin a five-day warning strike in reaction to the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.
The association, after a six-hour National Executive Council (NEC) meeting yesterday, said the warning strike will commence at 8 am and end on Monday, May 22, at 8 am.
The resident doctors had on April 29 issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its demands. The 14-day ultimatum ended on Saturday.
The association said the government’s refusal to either reach out or call for a meeting led to the decision by its NEC to agree on a nationwide five-day warning strike.
It hopes that within the period, the government will take steps to address the demands.
NARD, however, stressed that if the current government, although in transition, does not intervene meaningfully, it would embark on a full-blown indefinite strike nationwide.
President of the NARD, Dr. Emeka Orji, called on the President-elect, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to bring his experience to bear and intervene in the issue.
He stated that the intervention of the President-elect will send a message of hope to its members, and indeed, Nigerians, that his government will not be a strike-mongering administration.
Among the demands by the doctors are 200 per cent review of their Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) and issuance of a circular by the House of Representatives jettisoning the bill by Ganiyu Johnson, which seeks to stop young doctors from leaving the country without a five-year service period.
