The leadership of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) said it has perfected plans to hold a crucial meeting on Tuesday to consider the offers made by the Federal government since the commencement of the industrial action. The General Secretary of NARD, Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, and a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of NARD, Dr. Arikawe Adeolu made the disclosure in a chat with newsmen in Abuja.
He explained that the essence of the meeting was to consider what the government has put on the table and review the position of various members across the country. He added that the outcome of the meeting would determine whether the strike would be suspended or not.
According to him “We were supposed to hold a meeting on September 8 but it didn’t hold because the essence of the meeting was defeated. We thought that government would have paid by then but we got nothing so the meeting has been postponed to September 12; it will be a closed door meeting to carry out an appraisal of events so far."
“The federal government claims that money has been paid to the hospitals so we need to confirm from members across the country if they have received their salary arrears,” he added.
Recall that last week, aggrieved resident doctors embarked on an indefinite strike over labour related disputes. The action paralyzed activities across public health facilities across the country. To address this concern, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) ordered serving doctors to step up service delivery at their various Places of Primary Assignment to cushion the effect of the strike. Also, the Military directed all its medical facilities to be opened for the general public.
