Chris Ngige, the minister of Labour and Employment, on Monday, August 23, 2021, said that the ruling of the National Industrial Court that ordered the striking resident doctors to suspend strike will not affect implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, reached between the Federal Government and stakeholders in the health sector.
Recall that the Federal Government through the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment had dragged the resident doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, to the Industrial court when negotiations to broker peace for the doctors to suspend the strike had failed.
The resident doctors had downed tools on August 2 over some demands which they claimed the government was yet to implement including the payment of their outstanding salaries.
The doctors also declined to sign the MoU reached between stakeholders in the medical profession led by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and the Federal Government, insisting that the government should withdraw the case from court first.
The fear of the doctors was the invocation of the ‘no work, no pay’ police by the government, alleging that they were being punished because of the government failure.
But reacting to the order by the court, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Ngige who first conciliated the issue between the NARD and their employers, the Federal Ministry of Health, described the court ruling as a welcome development.
The Minister in a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Press, in the ministry reassured the affected doctors that the ruling will not prevent the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget Office of the Federation, BOF, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, OHOCSF, and the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages and Commission, NSIWC, from the implementation of the agreements contained in the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, reached at the last meeting with the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and affiliate associations with timelines affixed to them.
