NMA urges Nigerian govt, resident doctors to resolve dispute

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on Tuesday urged the Federal Government and the members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to resolve the ongoing dispute in the interest of Nigerians.

The NMA President, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, made the appeal in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

He lamented that the dispute has gone on for far too long to the detriment of the common Nigerians.

The resident doctors embarked on an indefinite strike on July 26 over the federal government failure to address their demands.

They are demanding the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), immediate release of the circular on one-for-one replacement, and payment of skipping arrears.

Others are an upward review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) in line with full salary restoration to the 2014 value of CONMESS and payment of the arrears of consequential adjustment of minimum wage.

READ ALSO: Resident doctors to embark on protest over unresolved demands

The federal government had since stopped their striking doctors’ salary, effective from July 26.

Ojinmah said: “We hereby call on our government to quickly conclude measures to resolve all areas of disagreement and eschew all punitive responses in the interest of industrial harmony.

“NMA also calls on NARD to extend a gesture of goodwill towards the government in the interest of our suffering patients and fellow citizens.

“Let us put aside all obstacles (contrived or real) towards a speedy resolution of this dispute for the love of the nation.

“A better Nigeria is a tangible reality if we all do right by this nation.”

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