THE Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has stated that its demand for a wage increase of 200% is reasonable and that the Federal Government is able to meet it.
The NARD National president Emeka Orji, stated this on today’s episode of Sunrise Daily on Channels Television.
He stated that with the rising inflation and related economic crises the world is facing, a review of resident doctor remuneration should have been conducted in 2014. He pointed that “things are getting worse and there has been no increase in take-home pay.”
The Federal Government was given a two-week ultimatum by NARD on April 29, 2023, to start implementing all outstanding agreements; else, doctors would go on a statewide strike.
He said, “When people hear that we are demanding 200% upward review, it may sound outrageous but we didn’t just come up with that figure. We believe that any increment should be based on the inflation from 2009 till now.
“I’ll give an instance, the exchange rate then was N152/$1. We know what it is today. The fuel price then was N65/litre. We know the amount today and there is even an imminent increment.
“When the minimum wage was N18,000, the equivalence in dollars was 91. Now it is N30,000. This thing is not about increment but can you increase this in a way that the take-home of Nigerian doctors and indeed other heath professionals will be good enough to make them stay in their country,
“We know the country can afford it. All that is needed is to increase budgetary allocation. The percentage of budget allocated to health for this year is 5.7. You cannot be able to meet up with that kind of allocation.
They have not started obeying the Abuja Declaration since 2001. In 2001, Nigeria entered into an agreement that it will be allocating minimum of 15% to health but has not done so.”
“We are not even asking for what is paid outside the country, we are just saying pay us something that matches the economic status of the country and standard of living. It’s only when you do so that people will decide to stay in the country,” he stated.
The NARD president further demanded the immediate withdrawal of the bill seeking to compel medical and dental graduates to render five-year compulsory services in Nigeria before being granted full licence to practice.
