The Federal government of Nigeria has appealed to the striking members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), to shelve their planned nationwide protest and stop the ongoing strike for the sake of Nigerians because many people are dying in numbers in the hospitals across the country.
During a press conference at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment headquarters in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Daju Kachallom, appealed to the public for assistance.
This is as the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, yesterday appealed to the Federal Government to urgently resolve all areas of disagreement.
NMA President, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, pointed out that the association would continue to protect the interest of members of NARD as a matter of policy, lamenting that the avoidable labour dispute had gone too far.
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Africa Today News, New York reports that Daju, who has been conciliating on behalf of the government with unions newsmen begged the NARD members not to allow more Nigerians to die due to their absence in the hospitals.
She pleaded with the striking doctors to return to work without further delay to save their fellow countrymen whose lives are hanging in between life and death, assuring that the government is working assiduously to meet all the demands of NARD in a short period of time.
The Permanent Secretary explained that the major issues of which NARD had insisted prompt response, were the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) and the one on one replacement of doctors in hospitals.
Dr. Ojinmah urged NARD to extend a gesture of goodwill towards the government in the interest of suffering patients and fellow citizens.
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the surge to leave Nigeria for greener pastures, NARD had a few weeks ago revealed that the number of medical doctors in the country is decreasing daily, poi pointing out that only about 10,000 resident doctors are left.