Resident Doctors in Nigeria begin nationwide strike today

Doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), on Monday, have begun a nationwide “indefinite strike”.

The NARD president, Aliyu Sokomba, confirmed this development to journalists

He said the doctors decided to embark on strike due to the failure of the government to meet their requests made in June this year.

The doctors had in June gone on strike over unpaid salaries, non-payment of hazard allowance, and a dearth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in hospitals, among several other reasons.

The one-week-long strike was suspended to give the federal and state governments time to fulfil the outstanding demands following an appeal by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Kayode Fayemi and other stakeholders.

“These demands are yet to be fulfilled ,” Mr Sokomba said.

Resident doctors make up a large percentage of doctors in Nigeria’s tertiary hospitals.