Resident doctors list 19 demands to avert indefinite strike

Resident doctors list 19 demands to avert indefinite strike

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has issued a stern warning of an indefinite nationwide strike set to begin on Saturday, should the Federal Government fail to meet its 19-point demand aimed at salvaging the country’s public health system.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, NARD President, Dr Muhammad Suleiman, said the association’s Extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting was convened following the expiration of a 30-day ultimatum earlier issued to the government.

He lamented that despite repeated engagements and a suspended warning strike in September, the government has yet to take meaningful action on the doctors’ grievances.

“We have exercised patience for too long. Doctors have already begun ward rounds and patient handovers in preparation for the industrial action,” Suleiman said.

He disclosed that the government owes doctors and other health workers an estimated N38 billion in accumulated allowances, some dating back over a decade. He also decried the failure to review doctors’ basic salaries in the past 16 years.

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Among the demands listed by NARD are the immediate payment of outstanding 25–35 per cent Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) arrears, the 2024 accoutrement allowance, and other pending entitlements owed to health workers.

The NEC also called for the reinstatement of five resident doctors dismissed from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, with full payment of their outstanding salaries and allowances.

Other demands include:

• Implementation of a humane working-hours policy for doctors.
• Autonomy for hospital Chief Executives to replace exiting doctors under a one-for-one policy.
• Urgent upgrade of infrastructure and medical equipment nationwide.
• Commencement of specialist allowance payments and inclusion of house officers in the civil service scheme.
• Correction of entry-level placements and decentralisation of promotion processes.
• Expedited conclusion of the Collective Bargaining Agreement on CONMESS and professional allowances.
• Enforcement of relativity between CONMESS and CONHESS salary structures.

NARD also rejected the creation of consultant cadres for non-medical personnel and demanded the abolition of casualisation of doctors, insisting that all locum staff be regularised.

The association further urged uniform implementation of CONMESS circulars across all health institutions and immediate clearance of salary arrears owed to doctors in various centres.

Suleiman concluded by reiterating the call for the implementation of special pension benefits earlier agreed between the Federal Government and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

He warned that failure to meet these demands could lead to a total collapse of service delivery in Nigeria’s public health sector.

Resident doctors list 19 demands to avert indefinite strike