ABUJA — The Minister of labour and employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said the previous National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) leadership hoarded information from its members
Ngige posited that the attitude of NARD leadership led to the degeneration of the recent strike.
The minister said this when he received members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and executive members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) at his office in Abuja on Wednesday.
He also bragged that doctors in the country are lucky to have him as a minister
Pointing out that the federal government had increased the aggregate funds in the 2022 budget for hazard allowance from N40 billion to N47 billion annually, Ngige commended the new NARD leadership for suspending its nationwide strike.
According to the minister, the recent strike might have been controlled if NARD’s previous leadership had provided its members with accurate information.
“The previous NARD leadership hoarded information from your members. Instead, things wouldn’t have degenerated.
“There is no need being pugilistic. We know that we have opposition to our government. It doesn’t mean that if we are doing something right, we should not be praised.
“If the former NARD leadership were not playing politics, they should have reported well to their members, especially after the intervention of the Elders Forum of which the president and secretary-general of NARD were members.
“You are lucky to have me, a medical doctor and health system manager here as the Minister of Labour and Employment. So, when the matter came, the issues are clear to me.
“But, when you bring advice to both parties on how things should be done and it is thrown away completely, you leave us with no other option than to do what the law says that we should be doing.
“That was why I sent this matter to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN),” he said.
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