Members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have elected a new set of leaders to pilot the affairs of the association for the next two years.
The association disclosed this in a statement issued on its website on Sunday.
According to the body, the election was conducted at the 2024 Annual Delegates Meeting held in Calabar, Cross River State capital.
New officers
According to the association, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Azare, Bauchi State, Bala Audu, emerged as the president of the association, while the
Founder of the Benjamin Olowojebutu Foundation, Benjamin Olowojebutu, was elected the vice president.
Others who were elected include the Chairman of the Benue State chapter of the association, Usha Anenga, as vice president 2; Ben Egbo as secretary general; Wale Lasisi as the assistant secretary general; Celestine Ugwoke as treasurer; Harrison Omokhua as financial secretary, and Manir Bature as the national publicity secretary.
“The delegates drawn from NMA branches in the country elected new officers to lead the NMA for the next two years,” the association said.
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The new officers will lead the association’s activities from 2024 to 2026, after which another cycle of leadership will emerge. Each leadership cycle of the NMA is expected to last for two years.
In the previous election, Uche Ojinmah, a consultant dermatologist, was elected president of the association along with some other members.
About new president
The new President, who is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, was with the University of Maiduguri and its teaching hospital until his appointment in 2017 as the Provost of the College of Medical Sciences at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. He was later appointed the Vice-Chancellor of The Federal University of Health Sciences, Azare, in Bauchi State.
The new president, with a rich profile as an academic and a medical practitioner of longstanding, has trained and mentored many medical professionals in the country and beyond.
What NMA stands for
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is the professional association for Nigerian doctors and physicians. The body has thousands of members and those in the diaspora.
According to Francis Faduyile, the association’s president from 2018 – 2020, NMA’s role is to complement the efforts of the federal government in promoting the advancement of health and allied sciences.
However, he noted that the agency is concerned about the welfare of its members.
“And this is what pits us against the government.
“Over the years, the government has been known to not stick to agreements made; in fact, they often simply renege on these agreements
“The health sector is peculiar in that discussions happen with unions at different times. This means that the government’s agreement with Union A might be contradictory to an agreement made with Union D,” he said.
NMA’s efforts
In many cases, the leadership of the association is quick to lend its voice to issues affecting the health sector or the welfare of the workers.
In 2023, NMA kicked against the five-year compulsory service for medical and dental practitioners proposed by the House of Representatives to control the exodus of health workers.
The president at the time, Mr Ojinma, said the bill was not the solution to the pending crisis in the nation’s healthcare system. Instead, he asked that the government address the root cause of the exodus by improving the welfare of medical practitioners and the security challenges they grapple with.