By Hassan Zaggi
The Chairman, National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Chairman of NARD, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, has insisted that there was no going back on the strike action his group commenced on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with one of our Editors, Dr. Sokombo, expressed satisfaction over the level of compliance of the strike across the country.
He, however, noted that NARD was not asking for much from the government.
“Our strike has since commenced on Monday and we are monitoring compliance. It is indefinite. Until the government responds to our demand, there is no going back.
“We are not asking for much from the government. We have reduced all our demands to asking only for insurance for our members to be able to carry out our their duties. Most of our demands are around having a favourable environment to carry out our duties.“
It would be recalled that sometimes in June, the residents after a warning strike put forward their demands to include the provision of adequate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for all healthcare workers and immediate reversal of the sacking of 26 resident doctors at the University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State.
They also demanded the implementation of the Medical Residency Training Act in all the federal and state hospitals, while also urging the government to ensure pay parity among doctors of equal cadre.
The doctors also asked the government to implement the revised hazard allowances and payment of COVID-19 inducement allowances, while they also urged government to stop all the deductions in salaries of their colleagues in Kaduna and other states, and the refund of such deductions as applicable.
Findings from our correspondent in Abuja revealed that there is considerable compliance to the strike by the resident doctors as most of the hospitals are not working optimally. Senior doctors, according to findings are seen doing most of the work in the government-owned health facilities.
