Resident doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) will on June 1, meet with the Federal Government on the review of hazard allowance for health workers.
Resident doctors across the country began an indefinite strike on April 1, following the expiration of a 60-day ultimatum given to the Federal Government on January 25 for the payment of arrears of salaries of house officers, review of hazard allowance, among other demands.
After several meetings, promises and signing of agreements between the government and NARD, the association decided to suspend its strike on April 12. It, however, gave the government a four-weeks ultimatum to meet its demands. The ultimatum ended on May 10.
However, it seems the cost is still not clear, as only one month salary out of five months salaries for resident doctors on the GIFMIS platform had been paid.
Also, resident doctors in Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), are beginning their strike today, as one of their members was assaulted by soldiers without the government doing anything about it. They complained that they do not feel safe working under such life-threatening conditions.
The President of the NARD, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, made these known in a chat with The Nation yesterday.
He said: “We had a meeting on May 7, and as it stands now, about 95 per cent of the House Officers have been paid, while about five per cent of them still have issues with their banks.
“Of the residents in GIFMIS, of the five months, the government has paid only one month. That is where we are still having challenges.
“Concerning the hazard allowance, the government said we will meet on June 1, which we are waiting for.”
He added: “Concerning the death in service insurance, we were told that they have given out over 350, and we were told to ask our members if they have received it. We are going to confirm this by tomorrow (Monday) by going to the Head of Service.
“However, we are having an Annual General Meeting from May 24 to 29th in Awka. This will determine the next step of what we intend to do.”
“The Federal Ministry of Health is more like the culprit and they do not know what they are supposed to do; they are the ones bringing the health sector backwards. They will accede to certain agreements – MOA, and will go back to deny what has been signed, and start giving excuses for things that are not there.
“The government side was told to go and sit down and tell us the hazard allowance that we are going to be offered, but as of the last meeting we went to, they had no clue, and we were not given anything from the Ministry of Health. Therefore, we were told to come back on June 1, that they should be able to give all health workers the amounts that have been appended to in the hazard allowance. All health workers, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Labour, the Budget Office and the Head of Service are supposed to be at the meeting on June 1.”