Resident Doctors Begin Indefinite Nationwide Strike

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Monday commenced a nationwide strike over the federal government’s failure to meet their demands.

The industrial action by the NARD is the latest in a string of strikes by medics to hit Africa’s most populous nation as it struggles to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

NARD stated that their demands which the federal government had failed to meet include a pay rise, better welfare, and adequate facilities.

“We have kicked off the strike today,” NARD president Aliyu Sokomba told Nigeria News, adding that medics treating virus cases would join the action this time around.

“There will be no exemptions,” he said.

Sokomba said long-standing issues such as the provision of life insurance, a pay rise, payment of salary arrears as well as provision of adequate facilities for doctors were the reasons for the strike.

“We have arrears of 2014, 2015, 2016, salary shortfalls that were supposed to have been paid over six years ago, still pending,” he said.

“These are the issues we have and they appear not to have been addressed up till this day,” he said.

“It is an indefinite strike,” Sokomba said, adding that it would be called off only when the union’s demands were met.