As the Health Authorities and the striking doctors continue to bicker, an appeal has gone to the striking National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to obey the ruling of the National Industrial Court (NIC) ordering its members to return to work and negotiate outstanding issues of disputes through social dialogue with the relevant health authorities.

The Director General/Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Comrade Issa Aremu made the appeal in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital North Central Nigeria, Saturday at the sideline of the monthly “Keep-fit- for Work” work out by the management and staff of the Institute.

This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Lawal Moshood, the Technical Adviser to the Director General.

Comrade Issa Aremu described the weekend order of the National Industrial Court as “a win- win ruling” which he said gave both the health authorities and the striking doctors “an ample opportunity” to suspend all forms of hostilities and maintain the status quo ante. He therefore urged National Association of Resident Doctors ( NARD) to return to negotiation table and ensure an agreement “that is binding all parties”.

In continuation of the hearing on the case brought against the doctors by the Federal government on Friday, Justice Bashar Alkali of the NIC ruled in favour of the government and ordered the striking doctors to resume work. In last year alone, medical practitioners were on strike three times over demands for allowances for treating COVID-19 patients and increment in basic salary.

Resident doctors across public health facilities in Nigeria have been on strike for over 40 days citing several reasons, that included delays in the payment of salaries and allowances and the payment of COVID-19 treatment allowances in the absence of death-in-service insurance.

The strike has causef more harm to the already affected health sector.

The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, UCTH has performed it’s first open heart surgery.The surgical procedure was carried out on a female patient in Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.

The Chief Medical Director, CMD of the hospital, Professor Ikpeme Ikpeme in a statement stated that the surgery lasted six and a half hours, noting “at 6.43pm the patient was wheeled into the Intensive care unit.”Professor Ikpeme disclosed that the patient received a Mitral valve replacement, which was the culmination of 2 years of hard work, determination, sacrifice, vision and focus at different levels of the hospitals.

The CMD also stated that the success recorded was driven by the hospital’s agenda to be focused rather than distracted. He appreciated the staff for the feat achieved.

According to him, the team spent long hours to get equipment and other facilities ready for the project, acknowledging the assistance of veterans medical surgeons.

Professor Ikpeme pledged that the hospital would resuscitate basic services by striving to introduce higher end services that would define its existence as a tertiary centre and contribute to the well-being of the people and community.

The CMD noted that the year had been difficult for the hospital like most other institutions, communities and even nations. Professor Ikpeme further explained that UCTH has struggled and remained afloat by the grace and mercy of God and with the dogged determination of its patriotic members of staff. He described the feat as a just reward for the labours of love and patriotism of members of staff and other stakeholders to the nation.

While expressing appreciation to all other stakeholders for their efforts, he said there was still a lot of work to be done to fully domesticate the procedure. Professor Ikpeme added that he looks forward to a day when such procedures would be domesticated and become a routine procedure by all UCTH team.