Doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), have on Monday September 7 commenced a nationwide “indefinite strike”.
The union said the doctors decided to embark on strike due to the failure of the government to meet their requests made in June this year.
The doctors had in June downed tools over unpaid salaries, non-payment of hazard allowance, and a dearth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in hospitals, among several other reasons.
Read Also: Resident Doctors Begin Nationwide Strike Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The one-week-long strike was suspended to give the federal and state governments time to fulfil the outstanding demands following an appeal by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Kayode Fayemi and other stakeholders.
The industrial action by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which represents about 40 percent of doctors, is the latest in a string of stoppages by medics to hit Africa’s most populous nation as it struggles to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
NARD president, Aliyu Sokomba confirmed the commencement of the strike, adding that medics treating virus cases would join the action this time around.
Sokomba said long-standing issues such as provision of life insurance, a pay rise, payment of salary arrears as well as provision of adequate facilities for doctors were the reasons for the strike.
He noted;
We have arrears of 2014, 2015, 2016, salary shortfalls that were supposed to have been paid over six years ago, still pending. These are the issues we have and they appear not to have been addressed up till this day. It is an indefinite strike.
Sokomba stressed that the industrial action would be called off only when the union’s demands were met.
This comes as COVID-19 cases steadily increase in Nigeria as 55,000 infections cases and 1,057 deaths were recorded as at Sunday night.
