ROUGH WEATHER THICKENS between Resident Doctors in Nigeria’s Kaduna State and the State Government. The Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, Wednesday, November 6, Kaduna State, issued 21-day strike notice to the government to implement agreements reached with the association two years ago.
Emmanuel Joseph, President of the Association, Thursday, in Kaduna, briefed the press that the medical doctors would resume their suspended strike if, at the expiration of the strike notice, government failed to implement the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, the association signed with government.
Joseph said: “The MOU set out mutually agreed roadmap with timeline towards resolving the issues and provided the basis for suspension of the strike action two years ago.” Since the agreement was signed, the association has “patiently and painstakingly” engaged government for the implementation of the agreed terms, Joseph noted.
The association, Joseph said was “rudely shocked by the content of the establishment circular of the 27 September, 2019, which is in breach to our MOU and indeed short changes Doctors in salaries and allowances to the tune of 26 to 49 per cent across grades and steps”.
He said after two years of the agreement, Kaduna state government “partially” attended to only two out of eight issues contained in the MOU.
“It is our earnest hope that the 21 days given will provide ample time for the government to rectify the anomalies in the new circular, to keep with the terms of our MOU and to meet up with other mutually terms of the MOU”, Joseph said.
