The Nasarawa State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called off its five-day warning strike and given the state administration two weeks to respond to all of its demands.
Report available to Platinum Times stated that the group went on strike after the state government refused to execute promotions for some of its members for up to nine years and annual raises for more than 12 years.
The state chairman, Dr. Peter Attah, briefed the media right after its emergency congress meeting in Lafia, the state capital, on Monday. He said that they decided to delay the five-day warning strike to minimize the suffering of the state’s residents.
According to Attah, the group had ordered its members to start working again right away throughout the state to save lives.
He said,
“At the expiration of two weeks, if the state government does not meet our demands, we may be left with no option than to embark on an indefinite strike action until all our demands are met.”
The association had earlier, on June 13, 2023, given a 21-day deadline to press its claim before the warning strike, as Daily Trust noted.
The non-implementation of the reviewed hazard allowance circular approved for doctors in the state and the accrued 19 months in arrears as of June 30th, 2023, non-payment of the medical residency training fund for doctors employed by the state government, non-implementation of the consequential minimum wage adjustment, high tax burden, the governor’s broken promise to exempt call duty tax, and inadequate pay were some of the reasons given for the strike.