Copyright persecondnews
MAfter the Federal Government failed to address its demands within a 30-day ultimatum, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) will commence an indefinite strike across the country on November 1, 2025. NARD President Mohammad Suleiman issued a statement on Sunday, October 26, explaining that the decision was reached following a five-hour session of the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on Saturday. The statement reads: “The NEC has marshalled out minimum demands, strike monitoring directives, and ‘no work, no pay/no pay, no work’ resolutions needed for a successful execution of this action. “Today, after a 5-hour Extra-Ordinary National Executive Council Meeting, the members of NEC have issued out new marching orders to us once again. “The NEC has unanimously directed us to declare a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike action to commence on Friday, October 31, 2025 at 11:59 pm.” The looming strike is expected to heavily impact services in hospitals across the country where resident doctors form the backbone of clinical care. Persecondnews recalls that NARD had on September 26 given the Federal Government one month to address a series of unresolved issues affecting the welfare and training of resident doctors and medical officers across the country. NARD noted that resident doctors and medical officers across the country continued to endure excessive and unregulated work hours, spanning several consecutive days, which endanger both their health and patient safety. The association also raised concern over the nonpayment of the outstanding 25% and 35% upward review arrears of CONMESS, which should have been settled by the end of August 2025, despite several engagements with the Federal Government. NARD described as unjust the dismissal of five resident doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, saying the action came amid widespread burnout and the ongoing migration of medical professionals abroad. Other grievances include the non-payment of promotion arrears owed to medical officers in various federal tertiary hospitals and the failure of the government to pay the 2024 accoutrement allowance, despite repeated assurances from the Ministry of Health. It also cited bureaucratic delays in upgrading resident doctors’ ranks following successful completion of postgraduate medical examinations. The association said these delays have led to non-payment of new salary scales and accumulated arrears. It further decried the exclusion of resident doctors from the specialist allowance, despite their vital role in delivering specialist-level clinical care to patients nationwide. Similarly, NARD faulted the exclusion of medical and dental house officers from the civil service scheme, a policy that has denied them rightful emoluments, professional recognition, and timely payment of salaries. The association also condemned the downgrading of newly employed resident doctors from CONMESS 3 Step 3 to CONMESS 2 Step 2 which has resulted in salary shortages and arrears in several federal hospitals.
