Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has appealed to striking resident doctors to resume work.
Gatekeepers News reports that Ngige has urged the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to stop their industrial action as the Federal Government continues to negotiate to resolve the dispute with the association.
The Minister who made this plea on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television said the resident doctors should come for discussions after they return to work.
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) embarked on industrial action over “irregular payment of salaries”, among other issues on August 2.
Efforts of different stakeholders, including President Muhammadu Buhari and the House of Representatives, to bring the resident doctors back to work did not yield the desired result.
On Friday, Gatekeepers News reported that the National Industrial Court, in a ruling by Justice Bashir Alkali, ordered the resident doctors to return to work.
The striking doctors, however, faulted the court’s ruling and vowed to appeal the order.
In reaction to the development, the Labour Minister described the decision of the resident doctors to continue the strike despite the court order as “contemptuous”.
Ngige said he is determined to protect the profession from being “vandalised”.
He said, “I want to appeal to NARD for them to reconsider their position, get back to work tomorrow or next and then come back again for discussions. We have so many things to discuss.
“I have nephews who are resident doctors. I have three of them in the east — at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching hospital, UNTH Enugu, Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu. I have so many of them.
“I have my son — a house officer. I have my daughter who is joining housemanship in October. I have a son, God willing, who is going to graduate again in October. I cannot destroy the profession but I have to protect the profession too if it is going to be vandalised.”
