Resident doctors’ body issues two-week ultimatum to FG over unmet demands

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal government to meet its outstanding demands or risk a nationwide strike, Vanguard reports.

The ultimatum was contained in a communique read by NARD’s new president, Dr. Emmanuel Ogar, at the end of its 46th Annual General Meeting in Calabar over the weekend.

The association said the government had failed to implement several agreements on remuneration, career progression, professional allowances and improved conditions of service despite repeated assurances, warning that prolonged delays had continued to affect doctors’ welfare and morale.

NARD further lamented that the current salary structure no longer reflects economic realities, with resident doctors overburdened by manpower shortages worsened by the continuous migration of health professionals abroad.

The doctors demanded immediate implementation of pending agreements, prompt payment of house officers’ entitlements, a standardised compensation template for excess workload, enforcement of anti-assault policies, and increased health sector funding.

NARD warned that failure to act within 14 days would disrupt industrial harmony and threaten healthcare delivery nationwide — placing the government on a tight deadline to avert yet another crippling doctors’ strike.