Ngige: Resident doctors have sense of entitlement — strike threat is absurd
Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and employment, described as “absurd” the demands made by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in its ultimatum to the federal government.
On Monday, the minister stated this in an interview to Arise TV.
On Saturday, NARD issued a strike threat if the government fails to meet its demands within fourteen days.
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The association demanded actionable steps regarding the “upward review” of the consolidated medical salary structure (CONMESS) and payment of resident doctors’ salary arrears.
The body also rejected a bill that would have required physicians and dentists to practise for five years before relocating abroad.
In response to the ultimatum, Ngige stated that the demands demonstrate a “sense of entitlement” and that the government has given resident physicians “everything they want.”
He added that the bill seeking to restrict the migration of health care professionals is a “private member bill” that is beyond the executive’s authority.
“Therefore, if the national association of resident physicians for whom we have been managing their affairs and have provided them with everything they desire,” the minister stated.
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“You have the option to leave if you determine that we have not done enough, as I have previously stated. It is now up to the ministry of education and health to determine what we can do, given that we provide free training to individuals.
They pay less for education than their colleagues in the United Kingdom and the United States.
“You also requested that a bill be removed from consideration by the national assembly, which is one of the reasons you want to go on strike. How can the government remove a private member bill, which is not even an exclusive bill?
“That is ridiculous. That is entitlement syndrome, and there is too much entitlement in this country.”
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