Strike continues, say resident doctors

The National Association of Resident Doctors
(NARD) yesterday dashed hopes of any
resolution of its ongoing strike.
In a communique issued at the end of its
National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in
Abuja, NARD said its members would only
return to work when the government settled
its demands.
The doctors accused the government of failing
to address their demands, including the
payment of salaries and allowances to its
members.
The communique by NARD President, Dr. Jubril
Abdullahi, and Acting Secretary General, Dr.
Udu Chijoke Udu, blamed the government for
delaying the resolution of the crisis.
NARD said the strike could not be resolved
because the attitude of the “government
grossly fall short of the articulated demands”.
The association added: “All salaries and
allowances of our members (House members
and resident doctors) must be paid in full with
immediate effect.
“The government must release and implement
the stakeholders’ agreement on residency
training programme of July 5 and 6, 2013.”
NARD demanded an “elaborate investigation of
alleged victimisation” believed to have been
perpetrated against its members “at the Federal
Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State”.
The doctors also insisted that failure on the
part of government to address the
aforementioned demands in clear terms, “the
ongoing indefinite withdrawal of services is to
be sustained until the above demands are
met”.
NARD said it could no longer “trust the
government” on any agreement until it
resolved its face-off with the resident doctors.
It said: “This is not the first time we have been
talking. We have met, signed agreements; yet,
nothing has changed for over 40 years.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) yesterday said the Federal Government
cannot blackmail its members to return to the
classroom.
The Chairperson of its University of Port
Harcourt (UNIPORT) branch, Prof. Antonia
Okerengwo, addressed reporters yesterday in
Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on the
protracted lecturers’ strike.
She vowed that the nationwide strike would
only be suspended when the 2009 Federal
Government/ASUU agreement was fully
implemented.
She said the Federal Government voluntarily
signed the agreement with ASUU leadership,
adding that it would be improper to renege on
it.
The union leader said ASUU wrote over 50
letters to Federal Government and lobbied
some members of the National Assembly on
the need to revamp the Education sector, all
without a positive response.
Okerengwo explained that contrary to the
government’s claim, ASUU members were not
just fighting for themselves and their welfare
but were agitating for Nigerian universities and
other tertiary institutions to be revitalised.
Okerengwo said: “We cannot continue to
pretend or wish that these problems do not
exist. Practical problems need practical
solutions.
“The negotiations for the 2009 agreement took
three years (2006-2009). As was agreed in
2012, evidenced by the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU), the Federal Government
promised to release N100 billion immediately
in 2012 and N400 billion in 2013.
“The technical committee set up by National
Executive Committee (NEC) to review the
NEEDS Assessment Report also recommended
that N800 billion would be required in the
short-term of two years (N400 billion per year)
for revitalisation. This has remained a mere
promise.
“Only N100 billion for 2012, which is 20 per
cent of what is due as at today, has so far
been released. The fact is that the N100 billion
is the amount due and outstanding since 2012.
What about the N400 billion for 2013?
“We wrote letters to the Federal Government;
we lobbied members of the National Assembly
on the need to revitalise the Education sector.
Now, the government is saying our action is
politically-motivated. It is the Federal
Government that is politicising the issue…”