The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has threatened that the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government will implement the ‘no work, no pay’, on the striking National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, if they refuse to resume work, even without granting their reasonable demands,
The Minister issued the warning on Friday, during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’.
His exact words: “By Tuesday, I will invite them back. If they become recalcitrant, there are other things I can do. There are weapons in the Labour Laws, I will invoke them. There is no work, no pay.
“Their employers have a role also, to keep their business afloat, to keep patients alive. They can employ local Doctors. We will not get there, but if we are going to get there, we will use that stick.”
Speaking further, the Minister also noted that the current hazard allowance of ₦5,000 for Doctors, was fixed in 1992, noting that it is fair and just, explaining that the Federal Government would review the amount in five weeks time.
He added: “It is the last NMA President Faduyile that called my attention that the hazard (allowance) was ₦5,000. I raised it with the Finance Minister and the Vice President, in the Economic Sustainability Meeting. In fact, to use the words of the Vice President, he said it is criminal, that it should not happen.
“The new hazard allowance will be done in the next five weeks. It is in the Memorandum of Action that we signed. Immediately after the Easter break, I will convene a meeting to look at it holistically.”
The Resident Doctors, on Thursday, embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike, to protest the alleged failure by the Federal Government to fulfil its obligations to them, in terms of their welfare, and other very important issues raised.