Nigerian Resident Doctors Suspend Nationwide Strike

The leadership of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its one-week warning strike which it embarked upon on Wednesday, May 17.

President of the association, Dr. Emeka Orji, told Channels Television via a telephone conversation that the association suspended the action for two weeks after reaching some agreement with the government on Friday.

He, however, stated that the doctors will meet again on the second day of June this year to review progress made with the agreement signed after which the association will decide on their next line of action.

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.