The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), with just six days to the expiration of its 30-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, has raised alarm over 19 unresolved welfare and administrative issues affecting its members nationwide.
In a communiqué issued after its Annual General Meeting in Katsina State, and signed by Secretary General Dr. Shuaibu Ibrahim, the union said resident doctors and medical officers were “currently enduring unregulated work hours and prolonged call duty hours,” a situation it described as “unsustainable.”
According to the doctors, the pressure has already cost lives. “Some doctors have paid the supreme price while at work,” the communiqué stated.
The association faulted government’s failure to settle the outstanding 25 and 35 per cent upward review arrears of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), which it said should have been cleared by August 2025. Other salary arrears and promotion benefits also remain unpaid, despite repeated engagements with the authorities.
NARD decried the non-payment of the 2024 accoutrement allowance and the continued exclusion of resident doctors from the “specialist allowance,” insisting they play a central role in delivering specialist care across the country.
The communiqué described as “unjust” the dismissal of five resident doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, warning that the move worsens burnout and the ongoing “Japa syndrome.”
It further criticised what it called “new bureaucratic bottlenecks” that have delayed the timely upgrade of doctors after postgraduate exams, resulting in unpaid salary scales and arrears.
The group also frowned at the “casualisation” of doctors in federal hospitals, which has left some working without career progression for as long as 10 years.
NARD noted that many new resident doctors are being wrongly placed on lower salary grades, CONMESS 2 Step 2 instead of CONMESS 3 Step 3, despite a correction of the anomaly in 2014.
It accused the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria of downgrading membership certificates issued by the West African Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, a move it described as inconsistent with practices in other West African countries.
The association also lamented delays by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria in issuing membership certificates, describing the problem as detrimental to professional growth.
The doctors warned that deteriorating hospital infrastructure and equipment were undermining patient care and the training of resident doctors.
They linked the escalating brain drain in the health sector to poor working conditions and inadequate pay, adding that hospitals had failed to replace doctors who had left the system, thereby increasing the burden on those who remain.
NARD further demanded the implementation of special pension benefits agreed with the Nigerian Medical Association in a Memorandum of Understanding signed on July 26, 2025.
Reaffirming its 30-day ultimatum, the association called for urgent government intervention to prevent an escalation of the crisis.