The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has declared a five-days warning strike following the failure of the Federal Government to meet its demands.
The strike which will commerce at 8 am on Wednesday, May 17 and last till Monday, May 22 was decided on after a six and half hours meeting by its extraordinary National Executive Council held virtually on Monday.
Recall that NARD had on April 29, 2023, issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its demands or face industrial action
The ultimatum ended on Saturday, May 13, 2023, as the Doctors are demanding an immediate increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to the tune of 200 per cent of the current gross salaries of doctors.
The Resident Doctors want the immediate withdrawal of the bill seeking to compel medical and dental graduates to render five-year compulsory services in Nigeria before being granted full licences to practise.
They also want the immediate implementation of CONMESS, domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act, 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.
The President of NARD, Dr Emeka Orji, who confirmed the incident to Channels Television via a WhatsApp message said that the strike was total, involving both emergency and clinical operations in the hospitals.
