Metro

Tinubu cancels ‘No Work, No Pay’ for Nigerian doctors

Published

1 year ago

October 21, 2023

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled an existing “No Work, No Pay” order that was instituted against striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on August 1, 2023.

President Tinubu invoked the “Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy” to waive the order which was instituted against the doctors following their industrial action which began on July 26, 2023.

The doctors had embarked on nationwide strike which lasted for two weeks, and grounded activities across healthcare institutions in Nigeria.

The medical practitioners’ strike was to draw the attention of the government to their low hazard allowance, salary increase, poor welfare and general working conditions.

Though the strike was called off by the resident doctors on August 12, 2023, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation was directed by the Federal Government to withhold all salaries.

In a statement issued Friday and signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu said he was compelled to revoke the order after “constructive engagements between government and the doctors.”

“Invoking the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy, President Bola Tinubu has approved the waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” order that was instituted against striking members of NARD on 1 August, 2023, following the commencement of their industrial action which began on 26 July, 2023,” Ngelale said in the statement.

“After several constructive engagements between the Federal Government and NARD, the Resident Doctors called off their strike on 12 August. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation was directed to withhold all salaries accrued by striking NARD members during the 17 days of their strike action.

“In view of the faithful implementation of terms which were agreed upon during the fruitful deliberations between the Resident Doctors and the Federal Government of Nigeria, President Tinubu has directed the grant of an exceptional last waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order on Resident Doctors, which will allow for the members of the NARD to receive the salaries which were previously withheld during the 17-day strike action,” Ngelale wrote.

The statement also stated that the president granted the waiver with a mandatory requirement that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment must secure a Document of Understanding (DoU) establishing that this exceptional waiver granted by the president would be the last one to be granted to all health sector unions.

The presidential spokesman also stated that the president had approved the waiver of the ‘no work, no pay’ rule for members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The senior university lecturers had also suffered the same fate of “No Work, No Pay” following their long-drawn strike which lasted for several months over their poor working conditions.

The education sector in Nigeria has consistently witnessed protests by lecturers and non-academic staff over “poor welfare conditions, overstretched workforce, poor working environment, among other issues.”

The situation had often led to industrial actions by the workers, including the grounding of academic activities across the nation.

To forestall the frequent strikes by the workers’ unions, the government imposed the “No Work, No Pay” rule, citing Section 43(1)(a) of the Trade Disputes Act.

Related Topics:Featured No Pay No Work President Bola Tinubu Resident Doctors Strike

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Metro

65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.

Metro

Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

Published

19 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.