NMA wades into resident doctors’ strike, urges FG to resolve disagreement

NMA wades into resident doctors’ strike, urges FG to resolve disagreement

The Nigerian Medical Association has asked the Federal Government to conclude measures to resolve all areas of disagreement with the striking members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors in the interest of industrial harmony.

The NMA made the call in a press statement signed by its President, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, and made available to The PUNCH on Tuesday.

NARD embarked on an indefinite strike on July 26, 2023, following the expiration of a two-week ultimatum it issued to the Federal Government.

The doctors are demanding the implementation of the one-for-one replacement policy for healthcare workers; the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to discontinue the downgrading of the membership certificate issued by the West African Postgraduate Medical and Surgical Colleges; the immediate payment of all salary arrears; the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure; a new hazard allowance; and the domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act; among others.

The NMA in its statement said the labour dispute is avoidable.

“The Nigerian Medical Association as the umbrella body for all doctors in Nigeria is the mother association to the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, and hence as a matter of policy must protect and promote her interest.

“It is our belief that this avoidable labour dispute has gone on for far too long to the detriment of the common Nigerian citizen.

“We hereby call on our government to quickly conclude measures to resolve all areas of disagreement and eschew all punitive responses in the interest of industrial harmony,” the statement partly read.

The medical body also urged NARD to extend a gesture of goodwill to the government in the interest of Nigerians.

“NMA also calls on NARD to extend a gesture of goodwill towards the government in the interest of our suffering patients and fellow citizens.

“Let us put aside all obstacles (contrived or real) towards a speedy resolution of this dispute for the love of the Nation. A better Nigeria is a tangible reality if we all do right by this nation,” it added.