The Nigerian Association of Medical Doctors (NARD) has given the government another two weeks to address the predicament of its members working for the federal and state governments.
During a meeting of its national executive council in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, the group issued the ultimatum.
It claimed the move was essential to buy the federal and state governments additional time to find a solution.
At the conclusion of its NEC meeting in July, NARD issued a two-week deadline from its headquarters in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
NARD President Dr. Dare Godiya Ishaya, accompanied by other members of the executive, lamented the slow pace encountered in the payment of the 2020 Medical Residency Training Funds (MRTF) for its members who had previously been left out of the program while reading the communique announcing their new position.
Ishaya has also criticized the Federal Government for taking too long to implement and pay the newly enhanced Hazard Allowance, which was announced in a circular in December 2021.
Brain drain is getting worse, he says, and that’s why there’s always a scarcity of workers and a lot of burnout in the healthcare industry.
The delay of Medical Residency Training Funds is due to a “immense labor deficit,” he said, “this awful condition has resulted to the shutdown of Federal Medical Center, Owo on the 19th of August 2022.”
Dr. Ishaya expressed disappointment that the plight of its members in the state government hospitals of Abia, Ekiti, Imo, and Ondo, where they are due 24, 13, 10, and 5 months of salary arrears correspondingly, has not improved despite the two-week ultimatum.
An extension of the deadline by two weeks has been decided upon, with the NARD president appealing to the goodwill of all Nigerians to help improve the “awful and deplorable conditions” in the afflicted hospitals.
This decision was made “after seeing the Federal Government’s effort and as a display of goodwill to allow ample time to substantiate their efforts with results to avoid industrial strife,” he explained.