BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
The Federal Government will commence the implementation of increased hazard allowance by January 2022, the National Association of Resident Doctors has disclosed.
The President of NARD, Dr. Dare Ishaya, said that the allowance would be increased on a percentage of the basic salary, depending on the grade level and basic salary of each doctor.
“We have finalised discussions on the hazard allowance with the Federal Government. We will come up with a circular and it will be implemented in January 2022. We were made to understand that it is captured in the 2022 budget, so implementation will start in January 2022,” Ishaya said.
Meanwhile, Ishaya has bemoaned the non-payment of salary arrears of resident doctors in Abia, Imo, Ekiti, and Ondo states despite the agreement reached with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
He said, “We had agreements with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum when they had a meeting a few weeks ago. We agreed on the modalities to offset those arrears but up till now, no state government has called us.
“The secretariat of the NGF has not invited us for any meeting. They are supposed to anchor the discussion with the various state governors but we haven’t heard from them. We will reach out to them to remind them of our agreement.”
Report says that doctors in Abia, Imo, Ekiti, and Ondo states are currently owed 20 months, six months, four months, and four months’ salary arrears respectively.
Stating that the doctors were going through psychological stress, with the inability to pay their rents and their children’s school fees, he said, “The conditions of these doctors can only be imagined because the economy of the country is not blossoming that one can look for alternative sources of income.
“So, they have been forced to be in a very precarious situation, not by their own making but because they have not been paid.”
