The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its planned strike, which was scheduled to commence on Monday following the intervention of Vice President Kashim Shettima, who stepped in to address the critical concerns raised by the aggrieved doctors.
The National President of NARD, Dr Mohammad Suleiman, who confirmed the development to Vanguard shortly after the meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC), said the Vice President contacted NARD leadership and issued directives that led to the resolution of several outstanding issues, while appealing for additional time to allow other matters to be addressed.
Suleiman said: “Following his intervention, the NEC of the association convened and unanimously resolved to respect the President’s efforts and halt the strike action that was scheduled to begin tomorrow.
“This decision was reached just a few hours ago, and more information will be communicated shortly.”
He added that a detailed communiqué outlining the resolutions and next steps would be released in the coming days.
“Once I am fully recovered, I will also address the press to explain these issues in greater detail. For now, we are giving the government additional time to act in good faith.”
Also, confirming the development in Lagos, the President of the Federal Medical Centre Ebutte Metta-ARD, Dr Victor Oloregbulem, said the decision to suspend the strike was reached in the spirit of goodwill to Nigerians and as a result of stakeholders’ engagement.
According to him, the suspension was also influenced by “some significant wins already achieved by the association, even though many of them are yet to be fully implemented.”
“We have agreed to suspend the strike for two weeks to give the Federal Government more time to complete ongoing actions, especially since some progress has already been made,” he said.
The suspension offers temporary relief to millions of Nigerians who depend on public health facilities and underscores ongoing negotiations aimed at averting a full-scale disruption of medical services nationwide.
(Vanguard)
