The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has reacted to the court order obtained by the Federal Government directing the striking doctors to return to work.
The association of doctors in its reaction said that it would not compel the doctors to return to work on the claim that they were yet to be served with the court ruling.
Newsmen report that the National Industrial Court had following an application brought by the Ministry of Labour on Monday ordered the doctors to suspend the weeks old strike.
Reacting to the judgment, the NARD president, Dr Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi told PUNCH that the association was yet to be served.
READ ALSO: Court orders resident doctors to suspend strike
“We have not received any order; we only saw the news on social media. We will not be resuming work,” he said.
The association had commenced the strike on August 2, 2021 following the failure of the Federal Government to resolve the issues that had earlier been raised in an earlier strike.
Among the contentious issues according to the doctors were the failure of the Federal Government to address issues concerning their salaries, poor hazard allowances among others. The doctors also alleged that doctors in several states were being owed arrears of salary running into months.
The doctors had severally accused the Federal Government of insincerity noting for instance that the minister of health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire had not for once looked towards their plight.
They had also accused the government of not being sincere in their commitments to past agreements.
GreenWhiteGreen GWG reports that the government had in desperation gone to the umbrella body of doctors in Nigeria, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA.
However, an agreement that the doctors came up with the NMA was quietly rebuffed by the NARD which said that the agreement did not get the confidence of the junior doctors.
In the midst of the crisis doctors in Nigeria have been relocating to better climes. In the same way, Nigerian leaders have also been going abroad for their personal medical treatment.
