Striking resident doctors have reached an agreement with the federal government and may call off their strike today.
The details of the agreement were contained in a communique jointly signed by the leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and a government delegation after a late Friday meeting.
The doctors strike entered the ninth day on Saturday, crippling activities in public tertiary hospitals across the country and leaving patients and their relatives stranded.
A federal government delegation on Friday met with officials of NARD at the ministry of labour in Abuja in a bid to resolve dispute.
Recall, how the doctors commenced an indefinite strike on April 1 after a meeting with the government delegation on March 31 ended in a deadlock.
The minister of labour, Chris Ngige, had threatened the doctors with the ‘no work, no pay’ rule during an interview on Channels Television penultimate Friday, a day after the strike commenced.
Unperturbed, the doctors continued with their strike, leaving only few doctors to attend to emergency situations.
Resident doctors, who are undergoing training to become consultants, make up a large percentage of doctors in Nigeria’s tertiary hospitals.
Thursday’s meeting between the government and the doctors lasted till midnight as both sides tried to resolve various pending issues that triggered the mass action.
They include: non-payment of House Officers, non-recruitment of House Officers, abolishment of the bench fees, and non-payment of National Minimum Wage consequential adjustment arrears.
Other issues discussed at the meeting were residency training allowance; hazard allowance and payment of Resident Doctors on GIFMIS platform.
