By Olanrewaju Kola
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AA) - Doctors in Nigeria called off nationwide public protests scheduled for Wednesday after the government agreed to their demands for pay raises and better working conditions.
National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) President Emeka Orji told Anadolu over the phone that the planned protest has been called off after the government agreed to their "immediate demands" at a meeting in the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Tuesday.
"We decided to suspend the public protests originally scheduled for Wednesday after the government agreed to our immediate demands," Orji said.
During the meeting, Senate President Godwill Akpabio and top officials asked the doctors to be patient and understand the government's constraints in dealing with economic issues and other healthcare-related affairs, the NARD president said.
On July 26, doctors began an indefinite strike in hospitals to put pressure on the government to accept their demands, which includes among other issues, immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund, concrete steps toward the “upward review” of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, and payment of all salary arrears since 2015.
The NARD will also call an end to the strike in hospitals soon, he added.
"Many of our doctors have left the country in search of better opportunities and better lives, leaving public-sector hospitals with staff shortages. As a result, existing doctors are under increased strain, and according to our estimates, one doctor in a Nigerian hospital is responsible for approximately 1,000 patients. And it is, indeed, a bad situation," he lamented.
According to the latest NARD statistics, the number of medical doctors in a public hospital has decreased from 25,000 to around 15,000 this year, he said.
Meanwhile, many Nigerian doctors have emigrated to the UK, US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and a few African countries, some doctors told Anadolu.