No-Work No-Pay: You can’t intimidate us over strike, Resident Doctors tell Minister

*Sen. (Dr.) Chris Ngige, Minister for Labour and Employment, says ‘things will happen next week; let them wait because they are taking the government for a ride, and it is wrong. They are playing with lives’

*But, our members are strongly determined to sacrifice everything for the soul of the medical profession and Nigerian patients, replies Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, President of National Association of Resident Doctors

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Continuing with the nationwide strike, the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has said its members are not bothered by the apparent official threat of Sen. (Dr.) Chris Ngige, Honourable Minister for Labour and Employment, to invoke the no-work-no-pay policy against the medical personnel in Nigeria.

The Association stated that its members are unwavering in standing their ground against every form of intimidation by the governmental authorities over their demands.

ConsumerConnect learnt Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, President of NARD, noted this in an interview Friday, August 6, 2021, in direct response to Dr. Ngige’s earlier comments on the ongoing measures at resolving the medical workers’ industrial action in the country.

The Minister for Labour and Employment, who described the doctors’ ongoing industrial action as “nonsense strike”, vowed to invoke the no-work-no-pay rule against them, if they fail to resume work by next week, according to report.

Related: NARD Strike: Doctors challenge Government to stand up to its responsibilities

Ngige declared: “Next week, I’ll escalate this issue because reconciliation has failed.

“I won’t meet them anymore because I have other things to do. I had two conciliations (on Thursday, August 5). Am I going to be wasting my time with them?

“I have other tools within the Labour laws and I will use them. I invoked Section 43 of the Labour laws this afternoon (Friday). I have communicated it to NARD.”

According to the Minister, the Resident Doctors will not receive money for the period they are on strike, and it will never count as a period of pensionable position in their medical career.

“Even the International Labour Organisation supports it because they render essential services.

“They are not supposed to go on strike without notifying me 15 days before the day of the strike.

“As we speak, I have not received any notification and that is why I am invoking Section 43 of the Labour Act – on the withdrawal of services, right to strike, and the right to protect the employer and their patients,” he stated.

Ngige, who is also a medical doctor by profession, added: “Things will happen next week.

Read Also: Nigerian doctors resume strike over unpaid salaries as Coronavirus cases surge

“Let them wait because they are taking the government for a ride, and it is wrong. They are playing with lives.”

In the same vein, when asked if the Federal Government could cope without the doctors amid rising cases of COVID-19 and cholera in the country, Ngige said things were under control, The Punch report said.

He, however, blamed state governments for the situation by saying that Nigerians are only focusing on the Federal Government.

Dr. Okhuaihesuyi, in responding to the Minister’s avowed threat by next week, said: “That policy is extant, but implementing it this time would only be vindictive and selective.

“However, our members are strongly determined to sacrifice everything for the soul of the medical profession and Nigerian patients.”

“We will not be moved by any form of intimidation.”