By Nigeria’s minister of labour, Chris Ngige and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have exchanged words regarding the strike action by resident doctors.
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), on Thursday, embarked on an indefinite strike over salary arrears and owed allowances.
Reacting to the development, the minister said he will invoke “weapons in the labour laws” on the striking doctors should they refuse to call off the action after government meets some of their demands.
Ngige made this known on Friday when he featured on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
He said: “By Tuesday, I will invite them back (referring to NARD). If they become recalcitrant, there are things I can do.
“There are weapons in the labour laws I will invoke. There is ‘no work, no pay’. Their employers have a role also to keep their businesses afloat, to keep patients alive. They can employ local doctors.”
Meanwhile the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), in a joint statement, has described Ngige’s comments as hate speech, capable of escalating “the rather unimaginable current brain drain.”
The statement read: “In as much as we appreciate the efforts being made by the government to resolve the issues that have led to this avoidable and unnecessary industrial action by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) wishes to clarify the misinformation by the Minister in the interview, which is seriously viewed to be a hate speech capable of bringing down the health system in Nigeria and thereby worsening the health care delivery and further escalate the rather unimaginable current brain drain.”
The NMA debunked claims by the minister that resident doctors in the US foot the bill for their residency training programme.
“In the United States of America and other developed countries, Resident Doctors work as they are being trained and they are paid by their employers,” it said.
“In the United Kingdom, the employer of Resident Doctors is the NHS, which is similar to what is obtainable in Nigeria.
“Furthermore, Residents also pay to take their postgraduate Medical examinations in the developed countries, which is what also obtains in Nigeria.”
The statement added that the NMA was totally in disagreement with the way and manner some government functionaries carry out their duties which was completely insensitive to the plight of the people.
