By Mary Sunday
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Abass Tajudeen, on Monday called on the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), to suspend their planned strike and allow the House look into the matter.
The Speaker, while speaking at a meeting with the leadership of the doctors in his office, also asked them to offer realistic solution to the issues in dispute.
Speaker Abbas said the decision of the leadership of the doctors to meet with the House is an affirmation of their faith and confidence in the capacity of the House to intervene and resolve the lingering issues in dispute.
He said: “This is most reassuring owing to the fact that the 9th Assembly had previously intervened in this matter. We hope to even go beyond the steps and actions taken by the previous House to ensure that we find a lasting resolution to the ever lingering crisis”.
The Speaker further said that the House was not unmindful of the many sacrifices resident doctors have continued to make in the nation’s health sector in spite of the many challenges they face and the poor conditions within which they work.
According to him, while many doctors have left the shores of the country in pursuit of better working conditions, they have chosen to remain behind in service to their fatherland.
He assured them that the House will deploy every legislative instrument available to us to ensure that they are fully compensated and rewarded for this act of patriotism.
“Given your faith in us, I would urge you to suspend the impending industrial action while we intervene. We equally seek your understanding of the fact that a new administration just came on board and still in the process of settling down as Ministers are yet to assume office”.
“We are not unmindful of the many sacrifices Resident Doctors have continued to make in the health sector in spite of the many challenges you face and the poor conditions within which you work. While many of your colleagues have left the shores of our country in pursuit of better working conditions, you have chosen to remain behind in service to the fatherland. We commend you for this and assure you, that we would deploy every legislative instrument available to us to ensure that you are fully compensated and rewarded for this act of patriotism.
“I encourage you to take advantage of this meeting to bare your minds on the issues at stake and suggest realistic solutions to them. We must approach these issues with an open mind and guided by the fact that revenues available to the government may not fully meet our demands.
“Therefore, we must find a middle ground that satisfies everyone without prejudice to the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding. We particularly note that your demands include the payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund, upward review of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and salary arrears dating back to 2015. These issues and more can be resolved without embarking on an industrial action”.
Recall that the resident doctors had embarked on warning strike before the inauguration of the current Tinubu government demanding a 200 percent increase in their salaries and other associated allowances.
They also want the payment of all salary arrears, implementation of the CONMEAS salary structure and new hazard allowance and domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act and payment of medical residency training fund to its members in state tertiary health facilities among others. After suspending the strike, the doctors issued a fresh two-week ultimatum for the government to meet its demands.
The Speaker after his remakes entered into a close door meeting with NARD, representatives of the ministry of finance and lawmakers.
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