By Seun Opejobi
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has cautioned resident doctors in Abuja against threatening to embark on industrial action.
Wike said he would not pay doctors who embark on strike while he’s a minister, adding that he’s ready to contend with them in court.
Addressing resident doctors, Wike said he would make more money when they embark on industrial action.
“Make your recommendations, and we will see the ones we can do and those we can’t do. Don’t threaten me with a strike because I don’t like it. When you go on strike, I save money; even if you come back, I won’t pay; we will determine it in court.
“It’s not about promises but the reality on ground, I don’t believe in theory,” Wike said.
Recently, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, have been on-and-off industrial actions due to the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.
The doctors’ demands, among many others, include the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), tangible steps on the “upward review” of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), and payment of all salary arrears owed its members since 2015.
The doctors also want the immediate massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals and the abolishment of the bureaucratic limitations to the immediate replacement of doctors and nurses who leave the system.
They also want the immediate review of hazard allowance by all the state governments as well as private tertiary health institutions where any form of residency training is done.
