Resident Doctors Suspend Nationwide Strike

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its five-day warning strike.

President of the association, Dr Orji Emeka Innocent, told press that the doctors would resume by 8am on Monday.

The NARD president said, “progress made will be reviewed on 2nd June 2023 during the association’s general meeting where next line of action will be decided.”

The association had embarked on the strike on Wednesday following the failure of the federal government to meet its demands.

Before the strike, NARD had given the government a two-week ultimatum to meet its demands.

Some of the association’s demands include an immediate increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to the tune of 200% of the current gross salary of doctors.

It also demanded the immediate withdrawal and jettisoning of the “ill-conceived” bill by Honorable Ganiyu Johnson on the “enslavement of young doctors in Nigeria”.

NARD also demanded immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) in line with the agreements reached at a meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Health.

While calling for massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals, NARD also called for immediate infrastructural development in hospitals without further delay.

The association called for immediate implementation of CONMESS, domestication of MRTA, and review of hazard allowance by all the state governments as well as private tertiary health institutions where any form of residency training is done, among others.