Doctor’s strike: National Assembly to meet with NARD leaders today
The National Assembly has invited the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to a meeting over its strike action.
NARD President Dr. Innocent Orji said he received an invitation to attend a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly yesterday.
Speaking on a television programme yesterday, Dr. Orji said his association has had no negotiation with the Federal Government since the strike started.
He said: “All we are hearing in the media is that the government is negotiating with us, but nobody has called us for any negotiation, except that they are negotiating with other associations. It was only this afternoon (yesterday) that I was informed of a meeting convened by the National Assembly for May 19. I got the invitation this afternoon but outside that, there has not been any negotiation since May 15 when our National Executive Council had an extraordinary session and declared the five-day strike.”
On replacing the striking doctors with ad hoc staff, Dr. Orji said he wishes the government good luck.
“Part of the major demands we have in our notice of strike is for the Federal Government to quickly replace the clinical staff that has left the system. We have been saying that we have a massive manpower shortage in our hospitals and we do not have enough numbers to contain the influx of patients in hospitals across the country.
“So, if the government that has refused to do that is now waking up to employ ad hoc staff as a way for resolving this issue, I wish them good luck. But as long as they do not negotiate with good fate, the crisis in the health sector will continue, our members are watching.”
He also warned that threats from the government will escalate the crisis in the health sector.
“All we have heard so far from the government are just threats, and those threats will escalate the crisis we have already. So, I call on the government to do the right thing. Our demands are clear, they are specific, they are achievable and these are things they can achieve in a matter of days. All they need to do is to show good faith and commitment to achieving them and leave all these threats. It is not going to help anybody.”
