FG, resident doctors meeting ends in deadlock

The negotiation between the Federal Government and the National
Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) ended in a stalemate in the
early hours of Friday.
The meeting, which started at about 6 p.m. on Thursday and ended by 5
a.m. on Friday, had in attendance the Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu and his health counterpart, Prof.
Onyebuchi Chukwu,
Others in attendance were Chief Richard Egbule, the Chairman, National
Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission (NISWC); Mrs Patience Osinubi,
the Director, Hospital Service Management, Ministry of Health, and the
leadership of NARD.
The parley ended in a deadlock due to disagreement over a particular
clause in the communiqué, which the union said was unacceptable
Wogu said in an interview said that the meeting would continue at noon
on Friday, Oct. 4 but could not say if the strike would be called off
before the meeting begins.
He, however, said he was certain that the midday meeting would end well.
On his part, the minister of Health, Prof. Chukwu, told Said that the
discussion with the union was successful.
"I believed the strike would be called off.
"The meeting went well and like the minister of labour said, I believe
they will come back and sign the agreement,'' he said.
However, Dr Omokwa Harrison, the National Vice President of NARD, said
the meeting ended in deadlock due to disagreement over some details
that needed to be put together.
"The meeting went well after so many hours and ended in a deadlock due
to disagreement over some details that we needed to put together.
"I think that both parties had a very fruitful discussion except for
the last issue.
"The agreement reached at the meeting was supposed to be considered by
NARD, and the president has already given assurance that we would go
back to reconsider the issue,'' Harrison said.
He said that the union members did not storm out of the meeting and
that he was hopeful that the "little disagreement'' would be resolved.
Harrison explained that in negotiation, parties sometimes disagree on
certain issues and "this can lead to the meeting being adjourned or
prolonged".
He said he was confident that the area of disagreement would be
resolved, when the meeting reconvenes.
NARD President, Dr Jibril Abdullahi, on Wednesday directed his members
nationwide, to proceed on an indefinite strike from Thursday, Oct. 3.
Abdullahi said that the association was protesting what he described
as the poor funding of the training of its members.
He said that NARD had demanded that the funding gap be improved
through supplementary budget, but "the Federal Government has so far
failed to accede to our to the demand". (NAN)