The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has asked the Federal Government for clarity on the implementation of its minimum wage demand, rejecting the N11.9 billion intervention.
According to TheCable, Muhammad Suleiman, NARD president, said on Monday that they are yet to receive communication from the government.
“We are still waiting to hear from the federal government on how they intend to implement some of the things that we have put in our minimum demand. So, the strike is still on,” he said.
On Saturday, NARD commenced a nationwide “total, comprehensive, and indefinite” strike.
“That N11.9 billion… I don’t know what is contained in it. What I know is that the conversation that happened last week was N2.9 billion for accoutrement allowance, N2.4 billion for non-clinical duty — which is even only for consultants; no resident doctor will get that — and another N400 million plus for backlog COVID-19 allowance, which is for other health workers,” he said.
He added that only a fraction of the total, about N500 million, would directly benefit resident doctors.
“Even if you combine all of that, only accoutrement allowance affects doctors. Even with that allowance, resident doctors will probably just get N500 million out of it, and that’s about N50,000 per person,” he said.
He said the total funds expected for release between Monday and Tuesday stand at around N6 billion, and NARD is yet to receive the disbursement.
“We have not seen the release yet. So, I don’t know where N11.9 billion is coming from, honestly. Perhaps the ministry will explain that,” he added.
