By Ayo Kehinde
President of the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria, NARD, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba has listed six reasons why his association has chosen to embark on nationwide strike in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic as from 12:am on Monday..
According to him, the strike is sequel to a 14-Day ultimatum the association duly served to the Federal Government, “in accordance with the Ordinary General Assembly meeting of the Association on May 29 where the notice was served that all resident doctors, medical officers below the rank of Principal Medical Officers and House Officers across all the Federal and State hospitals in Nigeria shall be embarking on a total and indefinite strike effective 12:01 am on Monday 15, June, 2020”
The reasons are as follows: Provision of grossly inadequate appropriate Personal Protective Equipment for all health workers; Immediate reversal of the disengagement of all 26 resident doctors of the Jos University Teaching Hospital and the payment of all salaries owned them, in keeping with provisions of the Medical Residency Training Act; Universal implementation of the Medical Residency Training Act in all Federal and State hospitals; Ensuring pay parity among doctors of equal cadre; Immediate implementation of the revised hazard allowance and payment of the COVID-19 inducement allowance as agreed with the Federal Government and healthcare workers three months ago; and Provisions of funding for the Medical Residency Training in the 2021 Appropriation bill, as well as payment of all arrears, owned its members in the Federal and State tertiary health institutions, arising from the consequential adjustment of the National minimum wage.
The NARD ended their protest letter with a solemn advice: “It is important that you make alternative arrangement for the care of the patients as strike shall be total and indefinite. No service of any kind, be it emergency, care at COVID-19 isolation and treatment centers shall be exempted. We sympathise with thew patients and the Nigerian populace”
