After weeks of embarking on strike action, following the failure of the Federal Government to meet their demands, the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has today, September 17, 2021, been ordered by the National Industrial Court to end its strike.
The industrial court, sitting in Abuja, ordered that the strike should be discontinued and members should return to work pending the determination of the substantive suit before it.
Among other issues, the doctors cited irregular payment of salaries as the cause of the industrial action, which has been back by a section of Nigerians.
The doctors commenced the strike on August 1, 2021, about the same time President Muhammadu Buhari jetted to the United Kingdom to receive medical care.
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The implication of the order by the industrial court implies that:
- The Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government and the resident doctors will remain unvisited by the Buhari-led government following the court order.
- This also means that salaries and other benefits will not be paid in the nearest future.
- Also, this development will create a deficit in the Nigerian healthcare sector. This implies that the masses will not have access to adequate healthcare.
- The court’s order is coming at a time when many Nigerian doctors are surplus to requirements in other countries and have shown readiness to leave the country.
- Other countries of the world will tap the potentials of Nigerian doctors, who have over time, been described as professionals in the medical field.
The court, presided over by Justice Bashar Alkali, held that no amount of money compensates for the loss of lives when the doctors refuse to work.
Justice Alkali said this following the daily reports of COVID-19 cases and the mortality rates that follow these reports.
Meanwhile, Robinson Ariyo, the lawyer representing the resident doctor’s, in his argument, called on the industrial court to be fair in its judgement and not take side with the government.
