FG drags resident doctors to industrial court over strike

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has invited the National Industrial Court of Nigeria to adjucate in the dispute between the Federal Government and striking resident doctors.
The doctors under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors had declared industrial dispute with the FG and proceeded on indefinite strike August 2 over the inability of the latter to meet their demands.
Efforts by the minister, who is the Conciliator-in-Chief of the Federal Government to broker truce between resident doctors and the government have yielded no positive results as the doctors have maintained that until their demands are met, they will not call off the strike.
Ngige was said to have formally handed over the trade dispute between government and NARD to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria for adjudication on Thursday.
A copy of the transmission to the Industrial Court was sent to NARD and the Federal Ministry of Health representing the Federal Government.
It will be recalled that the Minister had given the NARD leadership till the end of work on Wednesday, 11th August, 2021, to convene a virtual meeting of its National Executive Committee to brief its members on the efforts of government with a view to calling off its strike.
Vanguard quoted a source at the ministry, “Part of the instrument signed August 11, 2021 by the minister read, “whereas trade dispute has arisen and now exists between the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the Federal Ministry of health / Federal Government and whereas efforts to promote settlement through conciliation were on-going but had now failed.
“And considering the facts that members of NARD who are classified as Essential Services workers/employees had embarked on strike on Monday, August 2, 2021 over the issues under conciliation, contrary to the provisions of Section 18 of the Trade Disputes Act CAP T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004, after attending a Conciliation and Agreement Review meeting on July 22, 2021 and further considering that the Federal Ministry of Health claim to have and produced evidence to having met most of their demands based on the various Memorandum of Action reached during past conciliations especially that of July 22, 2021
“Now therefore, I, Senator Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige OON, MD the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 17 of the Trades Disputes Act, CAP T8 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, hereby refer the matter for consideration, and the issues in dispute to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria for adjudication.”
Saturday Vanguard further gathered that Senator Ngige on Thursday attended the meeting of Medical Elders Forum, comprising practising and retired senior medical practitioners, doctors who have served or are serving in top level political offices.
The source that spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “Some of those in attendance included the Chairman of Senate Committee on Health Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman House committee on Health, Tanko Sununu, all past Presidents of NMA and NARD, His Highness, Dr. Haliru Yahaya, Emir of Shonga, former chairman Senate Committee on Health, Senator Tejuosho, President of NMA, Prof. Innocent Ujah, former Minister of Health , Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Chairman and Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Prof. Tajudeen Sanusi, among others.”
The source claimed that the Minister of Labour and Employment” painstakingly explained every item on the resident doctors demands, upon which they embarked on strike.
“For instance, the minister informed the forum that it was the 36 state commissioners for health and the FCT who raised a joint memo to the National Council on Establishment for the abolition of internship period in the scheme of service for health professionals and further underlined the fact that Medical House Officers have never enjoyed the one year of internship or that of the NYSC as part of their period of service in the overall 35 years period of service.
“He added that CONMESS wage structure captures all doctors from CONMESS 1 for House Officers to CONMESS for the highest consultant.”
Ngige was also said to have stated that the circular from the Office of the Head Of Service of the Federation, emanating from the last National Economic Council meeting in Lagos, abolishing one year of internship and NYSC as part of scheme of service for health professionals, does not affect medical doctors because the housemanship of medical doctors is already captured in the wage structure of CONMESS.
“He also told the forum that the domestication of Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) in the states falls squarely on the shoulders of Governors and State Houses of Assembly for resident doctors in state specialists hospitals because health is on concurrent list of the constitution.
“Besides the Federal Government already has the Medical Residency Training Act of 2018 for federal residents, arguing further that house officers and general medical officers by strict job description, are not members of NARD which is an exclusive body for doctors on residency training.

“Hence this group should only be catered for by the Nigerian Medical Association and should not have downed tools.

“He maintained that the Federal Government Medical Residency Training Fund for 2021 was captured under the service wide vote in the 2021 supplementary budget which was signed by the President on the eve of his departure to the United Kingdom and has therefore become a Financial Act.

“The Minister noted that the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning is already moving funds into various compartments such as Covid-19 vaccines and other medical subheads and gave assurance that requests from medical colleges will be sorted out within the next seven working days, with funds moved to the accounts of resident doctors and should not have been an item for the strike.
The Nigeria Medical Association has said it would join industrial action if resident doctors were not paid all their due wages to call off the strike.
The NMA in a statement issued on Friday, signed by its Chairman on Inter Affiliate Affairs, Dr Rosemary Uzowulu, titled: “High cost of governance maintained yet payment of doctors to avert health sector destruction a failure from government”, described the ongoing strike as uncalled for if those in corridors of power were sincere. The body of doctors accused the political leaders of playing game with health of Nigerians because they could afford overseas medical treatment.
The statement partly read: “it is most unfortunate that budget allocation for newspapers for assembly members, state governors, presidency are approved and implemented within days of signing by Mr President, and yet the residency training allocation budgeted and endorsed cannot be implemented.The country in face of high cost of governance has decided to use the health of her subject to play chess game where king and queens display power of crown by killing their guards. I call on well meaning Nigerians across the country to quickly put a stop to the strike by mandating those concerned including the state governors for state hospitals to pay the resident doctors all their due wages or stand the chance of black cloud collapse from NMA if the battle lingers.”