Tag: NARD

4Apr By dthataNo Comments

Health

Government Agencies Sending Us Threat Messages To End Strike – Resident Doctors

The National Association of Resident Doctors has raised the alarm that it is being threatened by some government agencies to call off its ongoing strike. This comes four days into the nationwide strike which according to the association is to protest against the failure of the Federal Government to honour their agreements, including the payment of salary arrears and indemnity for their colleagues who died in the line of COVID-19 duty. The National President, NARD, Dr Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, told Sunday PUNCH in an interview on Thursday that even though they had the duty to save lives, they are first human beings who had needs and should not be denied their entitlements. He said this was a fight for survival, noting that they were tired of signing a memorandum of understanding wi...

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3Apr By dthataNo Comments

Politics

Ngige Threatens Striking Doctors With No-Work, No-Pay Policy

The Nigerian government said it might be forced to implement a no-work, no-pay policy for striking doctors if the ongoing industrial action persists. Nigeria’s labour and employment minister Chris Ngige on Friday stated that it will not hesitate to ‘invoke’ some labour laws on the doctors. “By Tuesday, I will invite them back. If they become recalcitrant, there are other things I can do. There are weapons in the Labour Laws, I will invoke them. There is no work, no pay,” Ngige said during a Channels Television programme Politics Today. “Their employers have a role also to keep their business afloat, to keep patients alive. They can employ local doctors. We won’t get there but if we are going to get there, we will use that stick.” Nigeria’s National Association of Resident Doc...

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1Apr By dthataNo Comments

News

Strike: FG, Doctors Reach Agreement

The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Action (MOA) with the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to avert the union’s planned nationwide strike. NAN reports that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, disclosed this while addressing newsmen at the end of a meeting with NARD on Thursday in Abuja. NARD had threatened to commence a nationwide strike on April 1, accusing the Federal Government of reneging on the agreements it reached with the union. The doctors’ grievances include the non-payment of salaries of between three to five months to some house officers and the non-recruitment of house officers. Others are the abolishment of the bench fees for doctors undergoing training in other hospitals, and the non-payment of National Minimu...

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29Mar By dthataNo Comments

Health

Resident Doctors To Begin Indefinite Strike April 1

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has resolved to commence “a total and indefinite strike” on April 1 2021, by 8am, if the Federal Government refuses to accede to its demands. This was the outcome of its Extraordinary National Executive Council meeting held on Saturday March 27 2021 at the Trauma Center of National Hospital Abuja to review its earlier ultimatum and deliberate on burning issues affecting residency training, healthcare delivery and the welfare. The communique of the NEC attended by over 50 chapters of NARD was signed by its President, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi; Secretary-General, Dr. Jerry Isogun and Publicity/Social Secretary, Dr. Dotun Osikoya and obtained by journalists on Sunday evening. The document reads, The NEC unanimously agreed that NARD shou...

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24Jan By dthataNo Comments

Health

COVID-19: Almost All Doctors At UCH’s Paediatric Department Are Infected – Adejo Arome

Adejo Arome, vice-president of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), says a significant percentage of doctors at the pediatric department of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo state, have contracted COVID-19. Speaking in an interview with Channels Television, he expressed concern about the rising number of health workers who have contracted the coronavirus. Arome, in the interview on Friday, added that one of the reasons there has been an increase in infections among health workers is that patients are not being truthful about their symptoms. “It is so disheartening that the number of health workers being infected with COVID-19 is increasing daily and it seems nothing is being done to reduce this number,” he said. “Apart from that, almost all the do...

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11Sep By dthataNo Comments

Health

Resident Doctors Suspend Nationwide Strike

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended the nationwide industrial action. Dr Aliyu Sokumba who is the President of NARD confirmed this to Channels Television on Thursday evening. Dr Sokumba disclosed that the union will review the progress made in talks with the Federal Government in two weeks. On Wednesday, the Federal Government and the doctors reached an agreement in a bid to end the industrial action. During the meeting which almost took the entire day, NARD had disclosed that it will liaise with the executive council with a view to calling off the strike. Both parties had been in talks to resolve the issues which led to NARD declaring an end to the country-wide strike. After the meeting, the Federal said an additional N8.9 billion has been a...

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6Sep By dthataNo Comments

Health

Nigerian Doctors To Protest Over Pay Rise, Better Welfare & Adequate Facilities

Doctors in state-run hospitals in Nigeria will go on strike next week to demand a pay rise, better welfare and adequate facilities, union leaders have said. The strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which represents some 40 percent of doctors, is the latest in a string of stoppages by medics to hit Africa’s most populous nation as it struggles to curb the spread of the coronavirus. “NEC (national executive council) resolved to proceed on an indefinite nationwide strike action from Monday,” said NARD president Aliyu Sokomba in a statement late Friday. The action would not be called off until the government provides “life insurance and death in service benefits for all health workers” as well as paying outstanding salaries and allowances. He said the unio...

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21Jun By dthataNo Comments

Health

Resident Doctors Suspend Nationwide Strike

The National Association of Resident Doctors has announced the suspension of its strike with effect from Monday, June 22, 2020. The organisation said it took the decision in order to enable the government time to fulfill outstanding demands following an appeal by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and other stakeholders. NARD made the announcement in a communique read to journalists by its President, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, on Sunday in Abuja after its National Executive Council meeting attended by over 300 members.

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20Jun By dthataNo Comments

Health

FG Releases ₦4.5 Billion To 31 Teaching Hospitals, 9 Billion For Life Insurance

Indications emerged Friday that the Federal Government has released the sum of N4.5 billion to 31 Federal Teaching Hospitals and Medical Centres across the country to cover hazard and inducement allowances for the month of April and May. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, made this disclosure while briefing State House Correspondents, in company of the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, after they briefed President Muhammadu Buhari, on the strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). Ngige expressed optimism that the strike action embarked upon by the Resident Doctors will end soon. The strike which commenced on Monday this week followed instructions by the NARD to its member...

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18Jun By dthataNo Comments

News

NARD Nationwide Strike: FG Threatens Actions Against NARD

The Federal government has threatened to take action against any resident doctor on its payroll who fails to resume work today, June 17. Recall that NARD had embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday due to the Federal Government’s failure to meet demands made by the association. A negotiation meeting convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige with the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, and the leadership of the Resident doctors, ended in a deadlock on Tuesday after many hours of deliberation. Ngige, during the meeting, stated that health workers are the essential frontline officers during the coronavirus pandemic and have suffered great mishaps across the country. According to him, the major issues have been taken care of, while other minor issues will...

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15Jun By dthataNo Comments

Health

Resident Doctors To Begin Nationwide Strike Today

After 6 hours deliberations, the National Executive Council, NEC of the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD have resolved to proceed with its planned nationwide strike on Monday morning. This follows the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum issued to the Government to meet their demands. NARD President, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba who confirmed this to ait.live says the resident doctors however appreciate the efforts of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and other stakeholders for their sincerity in resolving the issues. The NEC of NARD resolved that the doctors managing Covid -19 at the treatment centres in Nigeria are exempted from participating in the strike as demonstration of goodwill to Nigerians.

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31May By dthataNo Comments

Health

COVID-19: Doctors Threaten Indefinite Strike Over Working Conditions

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike should the government fail to resolve issues revolving around the welfare and safety of its members. The NARD stated that the Federal Government is paying lip service to the welfare of health workers, especially when it concerns the review of hazard allowances and life insurance, which it says is active only on the pages of newspapers. While demanding for the reinstatement of 26 of its members who were ‘illegally’ sacked in Jos, the Association disclosed that some States government have chosen this critical and wrong time in the country to slash the salaries of health workers. Speaking with the Nation, the President of the NARD, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, said: “The illegal disengagem...

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3May By dthataNo Comments

Politics

Kano Govt Playing Politics With COVID-19 – NARD, NMA, AMLSN

Some health associations in the country on Saturday deplored the decision of the Kano State government to ease the total lockdown in the state without regard for the mysterious deaths in the state. They said the governor’s action smacked of politics. Speaking to The Nation, the President of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, said: “the whole dimension of COVID-19 management has been drifting gradually from medical interventions to political power play, and we are beginning to feel that the stakeholders are using this COVID-19 to settle scores, etc. “Otherwise the lockdown in Kano was instituted in good faith. In fact, it is either the people there do not understand the nature of the disease we are dealing with or they just want to do things...

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5Apr By dthataNo Comments

Health

NMA, NARD Threaten To Withdraw Services Over Invitation Of Chinese Doctors

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have urged the federal government to halt its plan to invite an 18-man Chinese team of medical experts to assist the country in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19). They described the move as ill-timed and embarrassing, stating it undermines efforts and expertise of frontline healthcare workers risking their lives every day to keep the country safe. The associations said that they might be forced to review participation and withdraw their members from all public health facilities in the country if the government proceeds with the plans. The President of the NMA, Dr. Francis Faduyile, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. According to him: “The Nigerian Medical As...

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15Oct By ZIHONo Comments

News

Fed Govt’s Ban On Doctors’ Private Practice An Expensive Joke – NARD Chief Emmanuel Obayi

The President, National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) Federal Medical Centre Abuja, Dr Emmanuel Obayi, has said the federal government’s ban of private practice by doctors in full time employment in the public service is an expensive joke comparable to a time bomb waiting to explode. According to him, the ban carries the potential of leaving public health institutions in disarray owing to the fact that most doctors operating in the public sector are poorly remunerated and are forced to work in harsh conditions. He added that the ban could trigger a mass exodus of quality brains from public health institutions established to cater to the needs of the poor in the society to the private sector where the remuneration is not only higher and more regular but also boasts of better ...

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10Oct By ZIHONo Comments

News

Ekiti Residents Doctors Embark On 3-Day Warning Strike

The Ekiti State Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) yesterday embarked on a three-day warning strike in the state to press home their demand for six-month salary arears from the government. In a press release made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, President of the association in Ekiti, Comrade Tunji Olaoye, said the strike action was imperative as members of the association could no longer afford coming to work as they they are not being paid. The release is a letter of notice of warning strike addressed to the Ekiti State Commissioner for Health, chairman, Board of management, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), all top security operatives in the state and President, National Association of Resident Doctor...

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20Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

Health Workers Declare Nationwide Strike

The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) have directed their members in federal hospitals to proceed on an indefinite strike. Biobelemoye Josiah, national of chairman JOHESU, blamed the action on the federal government’s “lackadaisical attitude”. At a press conference in Kwara state on Wednesday, Josiah explained that the union had given government two ultimatums to respond to their demands but the government failed to do so. He urged his colleagues to make the strike “total and comprehensive”. “This lackadaisical attitude of the government has necessitated the resolve of JOHESU to call out all our members nationwide to withdraw their services and stay at home with effect from midnight of today (Wednesday) even after...

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19Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

Kaduna Resident Doctors To Begin Strike Oct. 2

The Association of Residents Doctors in Kaduna State, said on Tuesday that its members would proceed on an indefinite strike from Oct. 2. President of the association, Dr Joseph Natsah-Jokshan, who made the announcement at a press briefing in Kaduna, said a 21-day strike notice had been forwarded to the government after a congress meeting of the association on Sept. 9. He said the ultimatum was to compel the government to implement the 2011 agreement it entered with the association. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the agreement was on funding, equipping and staffing of hospitals, salary payment, residency training, and implementation of corrected Consolidated Medical Salary Structure among others. The NARD president explained that doctors in the state were overstr...

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11Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

Striking Doctors To Appraise Fed Govt Response To Demands

The leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) says it will meet on Tuesday to appraise the response of the Federal Government to its demands. The federal government in a meeting with the leadership of NARD which held on Sept. 6, agreed to pay the arrears of salaries latest by Sept. 8. Dr Arikawe Adeolu, a member of the National Executive Council of NARD, told NAN in Abuja on Monday that the meeting would allow the leadership appraise the events since its meeting with government. Adeolu, who is also the General Secretary of NARD, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, Abuja, said the outcome of the appraisal would determine whether the nationwide indefinite strike would be called off or not. He said the appraisal was necessary as more than 90 per cent of mem...

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8Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

FMC Keffi Mobilizes 70 Consultants To Cushion Strike Effect

The management of Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nasarawa State, on Friday, said it had mobilised 70 consultants and other health workers to cushion the effect of the resident doctors’ strike in the country. The Medical Director of the centre, Dr Joshua Ndom, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Keffi. He confirmed that the resident doctors at the centre had joined their colleagues across the country in the strike. He said “the strike by National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) is unfortunate as it is affecting the lives of many Nigerians negatively, especially those who do not have the means to go for treatment in private hospitals. “In FMC Keffi, we are doing our best to save lives. “However, we have mobilised no fewer than 70 consultants and others to attend to...

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7Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

Doctors Violate Trade Dispute Act – Ngige

The Federal Government said that the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) violated section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act of the Federation of 2004 by embarking on strike. Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, said this at a conciliation meeting with the leadership of NARD on Wednesday in Abuja. “I do not want to be legalistic about it, because you have breached section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act, but all these are the sacrifices we have to make,‘’ he said. It would be recalled that on Aug. 31, a Memorandum of Understanding was reached with the Executives of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), and NARD. Others are Ministry of Health, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Budget ...

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6Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

Resident Doctors In Borno Join Strike Amid Cholera Outbreak

The National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) on Tuesday embarked on a nationwide indefinite strike, despite the emergencies occasioned by Boko Haram insurgency and cholera outbreak in Maiduguri. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the Chairman of the association, Dr Muhammad El-Yakub, made the disclosure while addressing newsmen at the end of its congress meeting held at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). El-Yakub said that the action was in compliance with directives from its national secretariat, adding that resident doctors had so far joined the strike in the state. He explained that the national body of the association would direct its members if to resume work, to enable them to provide humanitarian services in the event of emerg...

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5Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

Patients Stranded As Doctors Ground Federal Hospitals

Many Nigerians who reported sick at federal government-owned medical facilities nationwide yesterday were stunned to find out that doctors had embarked on an indefinite strike, leaving them stranded and at the mercy of private hospitals. Their woes were compounded by their inability to access funds to look elsewhere for medical care as banks were closed as a result of the Eid-Maulud holiday which began last Friday. Medical doctors under the umbrella of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARDS) had commenced an indefinite nationwide strike in the early hours of yesterday following the rejection by its National Executive Council, of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) its leadership had signed with the federal government last week. The development attracted a firm rebuke ...

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4Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

UNILORIN Teaching Hospital Joins Resident Doctors Strike

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) chapter, has commenced an indefinite strike action on Monday to press home their demands. This is just as the striking doctors called on the Senate to set up a committee to probe the teaching hospitals in the country to see what was going on. Speaking on the strike action in Ilorin on Monday, president of NARD, UITH chapter, Dr Alexander Ige, said that the teaching hospital collect lowest wages out of the 54 teaching hospitals in the federation. Dr Ige, who said that UITH chapter of NARD was a victim of all the agitation that the national body was fighting for, added that, “The management of the UITH keep on slashing our salaries since January 2014 and we are forced to contribute a fr...

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2Sep By Czar Owolabi MarcusNo Comments

News

Resident Doctors Suspend Planned Nationwide Strike

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its plan to embark on a nationwide strike slated to begin on September 4. The resident doctors had earlier threatened to down tools by September 4th, 2017 unless the Federal Government meets their demand of immediate enrollment in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). The government met with the leadership of the association and promised to address the demands. The decision to suspend the strike was reached after several hours of meeting between the Minister of Labour and productivity, Chris Ngige and members from the Ministry of Health, as well as officials of the national association of resident doctors (NERD), in Abuja. After the meeting, Ngige said they have adjourned to November 2n...

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