Doctors working as residents at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, Nigeria, have gone back to their duties despite a monthlong nationwide strike launched by the Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
However, the industrial action, which commenced on November 1, was a result of the federal government failing to address the doctors’ requests, such as a 200% increase in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) scale, implementation of new allowances, as requested since July 2022, as well as addressing the shortage of clinical staff caused by delays in replacement.
Commenting on the issue, the President, UCH Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Dr. Gboyega Ajibola, stated that the National Executive Council of NARD sat on November 29 to review the strike action.
He clarified that most of their urgent demands as the association were already fulfilled, causing the halt in the industrial action. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also reached between the group and the federal government, addressing the list of their demands.
“Based on the satisfactory terms of the MoU, the NARD NEC agreed to suspend the industrial action, giving the government four weeks to reappraise its progress,” Ajibola stated.
After this incident, NARD ordered that congresses must be held in all centres on December 1, with the objective of informing members. Based on this, congress was held in UCH on Monday morning at 8 a.m., with members required to resume their duties.
Ajibola affirmed that the resident doctors in UCH were all back at their duties.
