The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has explained why it suspended its 63-day-old-strike which paralysed public health institutions across Nigeria leaving patients and their families stranded.
The association’s newly elected president, Godiya Ishaya, who confirmed this to PREMIUM TIMES said the decision was taken after the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Sunday through Monday morning.
He said the suspension of the strike will take effect from 8 a.m. Wednesday when the doctors are expected to return to their duty posts.
In a communique issued after Sunday’s meeting and obtained by this newspaper on Tuesday morning, the association said the decision was taken in order to give the federal government time to address its demands.
The new development, the union said, will be reviewed in six weeks.
“After critical appraisal of the performances of both federal and state governments on all the issues that led to the ongoing strike, progress made in implementing previous agreements reached with the Federal Government, the NEC resolved by the votes of a simple majority, to suspend the total and indefinite strike action embarked upon on 2nd August 2021.
“Therefore, our members will resume full work on Wednesday 6th October 2021 by 8:00 am,” the communique read.”
The communique was signed by the new NARD executive, Mr Ishaya, the president, Suleiman Ismail, the secretary general, and Alfa Yusuf, the publicity secretary.
NARD elected Mr Ishaya and other new executive members at the Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the doctors held on September 25 at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) in Bauchi state.
