News
Doctors Begin 5-Day Warning Strike Wednesday
Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) will tomorrow begin a five-day warning strike in reaction to the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.
The association, after a six-hour National Executive Council (NEC) meeting yesterday, said the warning strike will commence at 8 am and end on Monday, May 22, at 8 am.
The resident doctors had on April 29 issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its demands. The 14-day ultimatum ended on Saturday.
The association said the government’s refusal to either reach out or call for a meeting led to the decision by its NEC to agree on a nationwide five-day warning strike.
It hopes that within the period, the government will take steps to address the demands.
NARD, however, stressed that if the current government, although in transition, does not intervene meaningfully, it would embark on a full-blown indefinite strike nationwide.
Dr. Emeka Orji, president of the NARD, called on the President-elect, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to bring his experience to bear and intervene in the issue.
He stated that the intervention of the President-elect will send a message of hope to its members, and indeed, Nigerians, that his government will not be a strike-mongering administration.
Among the demands by the doctors are 200 per cent review of their Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) and issuance of a circular by the House of Representatives jettisoning the bill by Ganiyu Johnson, which seeks to stop young doctors from leaving the country without a five-year service period.
Other demands are the issuance of a circular by the Federal Ministry of Health for the replacement of doctors and nurses that have left the system with new ones, and the payment of salary arrears, improvement in hazard allowance by state governments, among others.
Orji said: “We issued a 14-day ultimatum expecting that the government will address many of these issues or at least call us for negotiation. But there was no attempt by the government to try to resolve it.
“The only attempt we saw was the official invitation to a meeting by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, which was cancelled at the last minute without any notice or tangible explanation.”
“The Federal Ministry of Health did not bat an eyelid or make any attempt to resolve these issues. And our members feel that this is not something that they will accept.
“We only considered that this government just has two weeks, and it will be unfair to welcome the government of the President-elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu with an indefinite strike. It is also not good for Nigerians for whom we believe this struggle is.
“However, at the expiration of the five-day warning strike, we are going to meet again. We believe that the incoming administration is also seeing what is happening.
“If this current government feels that they have finished their administration and that government cannot run again until they handover, we believe that the incoming government should wade in at this point, and at least call for negotiation so that we will know what exactly is going on.
“If we do not have any meaningful inputs to help convince our members at the end of the five-day warning strike ultimatum, then, the National Officers cannot guarantee that we are not going to proceed on an indefinite strike action.”
Urging the President-elect to intervene, the doctors said: “We know the capacity and the experience of the President-elect Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resolve issues like this. He is going to be sworn-in in about two weeks.
“As far as we are concerned, this is the time for him to step in because we have been going around to engage this government, but their body language is that they are packing up.
“We believe that the President-elect can intervene at this point to arrest the situation. If we see this happen, it will be easy for us to convince our members to give the incoming administration the benefits of the doubt and not to proceed on an indefinite strike.”
Legit.ng recently joined forces with the Shade of Life Foundation to become a voice of autism, and drive advocacy for improved media support during Autism Awareness Month.
Participants at the event
Conversations around media support exploration was led by Joseph Omotayo, head of Department for Human Interest Stories at Legit.ng, and Dr. Eziafakaku Nwokolo, founder and CEO of the Shade of Life Foundation,
This partnership is a response to the concerns raised by organizations like the Shade of Life Foundation about the level of support received from the media in discussing autism as a disability.
While other disabilities may receive attention, autism, with its critical developmental implications often lacks adequate representation in mainstream media.
Recognizing the importance of addressing these concerns, Legit.ng took proactive steps by integrating itself into the essence of autism awareness.
It facilitated a one-hour workshop with Dr. Nwokolo, the founder of the foundation, to deepen our understanding of autism, its various spectrums, and the language boundaries associated with it.
Other steps we took in advocating autism awareness in the media, can be seen in our attached press release.
Legit.ng believes that by amplifying the voices of autism and advocating for better media representation, we can contribute to creating a more inclusive and accepting society for all.
While 85 per cent of Nigeria is in darkness, Tanzania, an African country has shut down five hydroelectric stations in a bid to reduce excess electricity in the national grid.
Kassim Majaliwa, prime minister, Tanzania, has said the main plant, Mwalimu Nyerere Hydroelectric Station, alone generated enough electricity to power major cities, including Dar es Salaam, the country’s commercial hub.
It is the first time Tanzania, which suffers chronic power shortages, has closed hydroelectric stations due to excess production.
“We have turned off all these stations because the demand is low and the electricity production is too much, we have no allocation now,” an official from state-run power company, Tanesco, said.
The 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam is said to be almost filled with water following heavy rains that started early this year.
Meanwhile, while the country has an installed capacity of 1,938MW and the grid installed capacity of 1,899MW, Nigeria which has an installed capacity of 13,000MW is struggling to electrify 85 per cent of its electricity consumers.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Jim Ovia, renowned banker and businessman, as the Chairman, Board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Jim Ovia
Ovia’s appointment is contained in a State House statement titled, ‘President Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as Chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund,’ and issued on Friday by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the President, Media & Publicity.
The statement noted that “Ovia is the founder of one of Nigeria’s leading banks and a respected business leader, with a surfeit of efforts and benefaction towards nurturing and empowering young Nigerians.
“He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana.”
The National Student Loan Programme is a pivotal intervention that seeks to guarantee sustainable higher education and functional skill development for all Nigerian students and youths.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the implementing institution of this innovation, demands excellence and Nigerians of the finest professional ilk to guide and manage.
“The President believes Mr. Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience and professional stature to this role to advance the all-important vision of ensuring that no Nigerian student suffers a capricious end to their pursuit of higher education over a lack of funds,” the statement partly read.
Ovia’s appointment will also ensure “that Nigerian youths, irrespective of who they are, have access to higher education and skills that will make them productive members of society and core contributors to the knowledge-based global economy of this century.”
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