Metro

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

Published

7 months 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

Click to comment

Metro

Chipata youth calls for stronger media protections amid concerns over media independence

Published

18 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Alepha Banda, a programmes officer at the Youth Development Foundation (YDF), says Zambia’s existing laws do not adequately safeguard journalists, thereby impeding media freedoms and their ability to report objectively.

Banda also argued that journalists’ lack of economic stability makes them susceptible to manipulation.

In an interview with Zambia Monitor in the Eastern Province, Banda stated the need for the government to develop policies aimed at protecting private media entities and journalists.

“The government should formulate a policy that will protect the private media and journalists,” he said.

Moreover, Banda pointed out that although individuals theoretically possess the freedom to express themselves, this liberty was frequently curtailed by factors such as fear and threats emanating from certain members of the political class.

“Individuals in positions of power have a tendency to interfere with the media, as evidenced by numerous incidents where media outlets have been stormed by individuals affiliated with certain political factions,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that there had been instances where the government respected media freedoms.

“At least we have seen some tolerance in some instances, where the government has not taken action that hinders media freedom,” he stated.

Additionally, Banda mentioned that the marginalised were often overlooked both in new media platforms and traditional mainstream media outlets.

“The marginalised are often neglected across television, radio, and newspapers,” he said.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.

Metro

Nigeria may need to raise supplementary budget to be able pay minimum wage— IMF

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the Nigerian government may need to raise a supplementary budget to be able to pay the proposed minimum wage increase for workers.

The IMF which gave the advise in its latest staff country report for Nigeria on Monday, said a supplementary budget was necessary because the negotiated amount for the wage increase may surpass the budgeted amount in the original 2024 budget.

“The authorities noted that a supplementary budget may be needed to accommodate the outcome of the ongoing wage structure negotiations which may exceed what they had included in the 2024 budget,” the report said.

“Staff projects a higher fiscal deficit than anticipated in the 2024 budget, but broadly unchanged from 2023. The drivers are lower oil/gas revenue projections, reflecting IMF oil price forecasts but incorporating recent production gains; higher implicit fuel and electricity subsidies; continued suspension of excise measures included in the MTEF; and higher interest costs,” the agency noted.

The report also noted that the government might need to raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent fresh borrowings from the apex bank’s Ways and Means.

“Over the medium-term, staff projects consolidation in the non-oil primary deficit. With rising interest costs, government debt stabilises towards the end of the projection period.

“Staff factors in an under-execution of capital expenditure in line with past outcomes and estimates an FGN deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP relative to the 2024 budget target of 3.4 per cent of GDP.

“For the consolidated government, this implies a projected deficit of 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2024—compared to 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2023 measured from the financing side—which is appropriate given the large social needs and factoring in a realistic pace of revenue mobilisation.

“Based on staff’s projections, the authorities must raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent renewed recourse to CBN financing.

“With higher interest rates, banks and nonbanks should have sufficient appetite—as indicated by market sources—conditional on careful management of system liquidity, including a likely reduction in the currently high cash reserve requirement.”

Organised labour in the country has continued to clamour for an increase in the minimum wage for government workers.

Labour leaders have demanded for N615,000 from N30,000 as salaries for lowest ranked workers, while a tripartite committee set up by the government have mulled N70,000 as the new minimum wage.

Despite the government allocating N6.48tn for personnel cost in the 2024 budget, the international lender argues that the amount may be insufficient, which could force the government to come up with a supplementary budget to fund the deficit, the report added.