The meeting between the House of Representatives committee
on health services, federal government and National Association of Resident
Doctors (NARD), ended without any agreement on Tuesday.
The two-day public hearing, organised by the house committee
on health services, started on Monday but ended in a deadlock on Tuesday.
The meeting was attended by Olorunnimbe Mamora, minister of
state for health; Emmanuel Meribole, permanent secretary, office of the head of
service; Ben Akabueze, director-general of the budget office of the federation;
Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, president of NARD, among others.
While addressing officials at the meeting on Tuesday, the NARD president cited experiences of doctors in hospitals across the country, especially as it related to payment of salaries.
“We need to get
something right, and getting something right is when we tell ourselves the
truth. Why we are still on strike today is because of the ministry of health,
mostly — my apologies to the minister of health. I will say it as it is,” he
said.
“We have been honoured that the speaker came to see us and
invited us four times. This is the second time we are going on a strike in this
year. Why are we having these bottlenecks? Because some people are not doing
their jobs.”
However, after about six hours of discussions, Tanko Sununu,
chairman of the committee, asked the resident doctors to work with the ministry
of health to come up with an agreement reached at the meeting.
But Okhuaihesuyi insisted that the meeting has not resolved
the issues raised by the resident doctors, adding that no agreement has been
reached.
THE STRIKE
The doctors had embarked on a strike on April 1 to protest
the failure of the government to fulfil an agreement signed with the union.
NARD later suspended the strike on April 10, following the
signing of a new agreement with the federal government, concerning issues
raised in a 13-point demand.
However, more than two months after the new agreement was
signed, the resident doctors say the federal government has failed to meet most
of their demands.
The doctors commenced a fresh nationwide strike on August 2
and have vowed not call off the strike until the federal government meets all
their demands.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com