The federal government has threatened to hire ad-hoc doctors with salaries of the striking resident doctors.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the hint during a Channels Television programme.
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) began a five-day warning strike, on Wednesday, over unmet demands.
The association is, among other things, demanding increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to the tune of 200 per cent of the current gross salary of doctors; new allowances included in its letter to the Minister of Health on July 7, 2022, on the review of CONMESS; payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund; payment of salary arrears and consequential adjustment of the minimum wage.
Ngige said the striking resident doctors were crying wolf.
He also said the NARD was disrespectful to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), which was already negotiating with the government on its behalf.
“The resident doctors are part of NMA. They are young doctors in training. So if the NMA is negotiating on their behalf as the parent body, what these young people (resident doctors) are doing is disrespecting the NMA. They are crying wolf when there is none,” he said.
Folarin Kehinde is an Abuja-based journalist with over 5 years of experience in journalism. His work has earned him national and international recognition across various beats, including environment, health and politics.
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