Nurses and midwives in Oyo State on Wednesday insisted that their ongoing strike will not be called off until the state government meets their demands.
Samuel Adeyemi, President of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, said there was no turning back on the strike.
NAN reports that nurses and midwives in state government-owned hospitals and health centres began an indefinite strike on May 21.
NAN also reports that the strike has been affecting patients, who are crowding hospitals without nurses or midwives to care for them.
NANNM’s demands include urgent mass recruitment of nurses and midwives and correction of the incorrect notional date on members’ promotion letters due in 2017/2018.
National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) [Photo Credit: PM News]
Others include the adoption and implementation of lateral conversion/career progression for nurses, as occurs in other states of the federation.
The association is also demanding payment of back wages from 2011, which it says had been paid to other workers.
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Mr Adeyemi, however, maintained that the indefinite strike would continue until Governor Seyi Makinde took appropriate action.
“This is the decision of our congress, since absolutely none of our requests have been met, except for the announcement of the recruitment of nurses, which could be a delaying tactic.
“This is like one or two of the eight elements; even the announcement has not resulted in employment.
“You can imagine what kind of society we live in. There is no respect for human life. Strikes in the health sector mean a lot and will never be allowed in civilised countries.
“But the bad thing is that in this case the strike continues indefinitely,” Adeyemi said.
Meanwhile, State Hospitals Management Board (SHMB) Chairman Akin Fagbemi said recruitment was a key area of demand for the striking nurses.
Mr Fagbemi recalled that in 2020, the state government recruited health workers in the state and the board was given the directive to make replacements if there were vacancies.
He said there was an advertisement in the public place to recruit competent hands, including doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and physiotherapists, among others.
The SHMB chairman called on the striking nurses and midwives to suspend their strike in the interest of the state’s population.
“Recruitment of health workers in the state is a continuous process and before the end of the year, the board will analyse the gaps in the hospitals and do the needful,” Fagbemi said.
(YAYA)