By Akinwale Kasali
The Federal Government has sternly warned the striking National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, to resume work, or face the wrath of the law.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, who issued the warning on behalf of the Federal Government on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said that the FG will have no choice than to implement the ‘No Work, No Pay’ strategy.
Ngige: “By Tuesday, I will invite them back. If they become recalcitrant, there are other things I can do. There are weapons in the Labour Laws, I will invoke them. There is no work, no pay.
“Their employers have a role also to keep their business afloat, to keep patients alive. They can employ local doctors. We won’t get there but if we are going to get there, we will use that stick.”
Ngige stressed that the current hazard allowance of ₦5,000 for doctors was fixed in 1992, noting that it was fair and just.
He also noted that when the former President of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr Francis Adedayo Faduyile, drew the attention of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, he described the figure as criminal, but promised that the Federal Government would review the amount in five weeks’ time, although he didn’t disclose the proposed figure.
“It is the last NMA President Faduyile that called my attention that the hazard (allowance) was ₦5,000. I raised it with the Finance Minister and the Vice President in the Economic Sustainability Meeting. In fact, to use the words of the Vice President, he said it is criminal, that it shouldn’t happen.
“The new hazard allowance will be done in the next five weeks. It is in the Memorandum of Action that we signed. Immediately after the Easter break, I will convene a meeting to look at it holistically,” he added.
It will be recalled that the resident doctors had on Thursday, April 1, 2021, embarked on an indefinite strike to protest alleged failure by the Federal Government to fulfil its obligations to them.
They met with the Federal Government’s team on Wednesday over their grievances, but rejected the proposals put forward by the Government on how to make up for the shortcomings in the implementation of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between both parties, which has been the bone of contention.
