Resident Doctors Call off Strike Following FG’s Sack Threat

The leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, has agreed to suspend its strike at a meeting with other health sector stakeholders on Tuesday. This is coming a day after declaring a nationwide industrial action.

This decision was reached during a meeting between resident doctors and other stakeholders, organised by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogàra in Abuja. They appealed to resident doctors across the country to suspend the strike until the next meeting scheduled for July 14.

In the wake of their decision to stay off work Monday, Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, directed Chief Medical Directors, CMDs, and medical directors, MDs, of federal government tertiary health institutions to fill the vacancies created by resident doctors who have “abandoned” their training programme, Vanguard writes.

Spokesperson of the ministry, Boade Akinola, said the directive was contained in a circular signed by Amina Shamaki, permanent secretary of the ministry.

The circular read:

“It has come to the notice of the management of the ministry that some resident doctors in your establishment have voluntarily withdrawn from the residency training program by refusing to report for training without authorisation. Public service rule, PSR 030402 (e) is relevant. 

“This is in spite of the ongoing negotiations on their demands put forward by the representatives of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association. 

“In view of this development, you are hereby directed to replace all the doctors that have withdrawn their services, with others from the pool of applicants for the training programs in the various disciplines in order not to create ominous gap in training with attendant disruption of health care delivery in your facility. 

“Meanwhile, the ministry is working with the panel on the review of the residency training programme in Nigeria, led by Professor Wole Atoyebi, the registrar of the National Postgraduate Medical College, to fast-track the development of a comprehensive blueprint for postgraduate training of doctors in the country.“Please, ensure immediate compliance.”

This precedent was set by former President Goodluck Jonathan who sacked 16,000 resident doctors in 2014 for participating in a nationwide strike, although they were recalled two weeks later.

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