By Egena Sunday Ode
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, will be leading a Federal Government delegation to a meeting with all the critical stakeholders In the medical sector in Abuja today.
The Minister disclosed this on Thursday to newsmen after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He also disclosed that the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has waded into the industrial face-off between the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the Federal Government.
Ngige also declared that the government will go ahead to invoke the ‘no work, no pay’ charter on the striking doctors describing NARD’s resumed strike as illegal and injurious to the nation at a time the country was battling with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to him, it is illegal for the doctors to have embarked on the strike without giving adequate notice to the government even as he dismissed the NARD’s claims that it merely resumed a suspended strike.
On the invocation of the ‘no work, no pay’ charter, Ngige said the matter has already been taken to the Industrial Court for adjudication recalling that such was applied on members of Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The Minister also said that doctors’ demands were not only directed at the federal government just as he disclosed his readiness to confer with the governors on the matter through the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).
His words: “As you know, the president has been away for quite some time. He was away for two weeks and came back last Friday. While he was away, we had some development in the health sector.
“You all know that this is COVID-19 period. And we were expecting Delta variant upsurge with a third wave. And suddenly, the resident doctors down tools and claimed that they were resuming a suspended strike. I then told them that there was nothing like suspended strike and that a strike is a strike….
“I invoked Section 43 of Trade Dispute Act, not law of Ngige, or law of Buhari, 2004, on withdrawal of wages during period of strike, which in common parlance here is the principle of “no work no pay.” So, these are the situation we have been in.
“But two days ago, the parent associations of resident doctors, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), the equivalent of the British Medical Association, World Medical Association, United States Medical Association, came over on the prompting of the Medical Elders Council Forum; that is experienced senior doctors, former government officials, doctors, and we started dialogue two days ago. And we are continuing the dialogue tomorrow (today). At least, they are expected to bring to the discussion, their sub associations of NMA, National Association of Resident Doctors, Association of Medical and Dental Consultants who also threatened strike over some more issues. Then, the Association of Medical Doctors in the Academics who teach in the university, especially in the clinical departments of Colleges of Medicine.
“So, we have agreed to meet tomorrow 2pm. The government side will be informed. I have just finished briefing the President on the situation as we presently have it on ground. And he has given his blessing for us to proceed. He also gave me permission to liaise with the Chief of Staff so that some government agencies; Federal Ministry of Health, Budget Office of the Federation, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Accountant General, National Salaries Wages and Incomes Commission, Office of Head of Service, all the government agencies involved or that have anything to do with some of the complaints of these three groups of medical doctors should come on board tomorrow so that we can sort the issues out. That is what I came for primarily.”
