Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Barring any change in their resolution, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) may commence industrial action on Wednesday over what they described as the poor welfare of their members across the country.
In a communique issued at the end of the extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of NARD held on March 27, 2021, at the Trauma Centre, National Hospital, Abuja, the resident doctors said their ultimatum given to federal government at the January NEC meeting in Owerri, Imo State capital will expire by midnight on March 31, 2021, with no significant response from the authorities.
In the communiqué jointly signed by NARD President, Dr. Uyilawa Okuaihesyi, and Secretary-General, Dr. Jerry Isogwu, the doctors lamented the suffering of some of their members in the GIFMIS platform who have not been paid salaries for four months now due to a delay in biometric capturing by the IPPIS department.
They further lamented the alleged inhumane treatment being meted on members in some state tertiary institutions like Abia State University Teaching Hospitals (ABSUTH), which owed some of their members 20 months’ salaries; Imo State University Teaching Hospitals (IMSUTH), five months’ salaries; and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospitals (UNIMEDTH), three months’ salaries.
It said the meeting deliberated on burning issues affecting Residency Training, Healthcare Delivery and the Welfare of its members across the country.
“The NEC observed that her earlier ultimatum given to the federal government during the January 2021 NEC meeting in Owerri, will expire by 12 midnight on March 31, 2021 with no significant achievement.
“The NEC reiterated her full support for the central placement of house officers. Nevertheless, they decried the agony our members have been made to pass through for three months now without salaries despite uninterrupted service delivery to the nation. This is due to the inefficiency of the Registrar of MDCN in handling the processes of the central placement of house officers as approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) since 2017”.
