The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal Ministry of Health

  • Wanted most urgently: A centre for Cancer treatment in Nigeria

    Is this health week? I don’t know. If it is, then we are in order. If it is not, can somebody please declare this a health week so that we can make some demands? For my part, I have only one demand, and it is that the Federal Ministry of Health should urgently set up a cancer centre in this country. That it has not done so, so far, is extremely egregious to me, and speaks somewhat of the rather preoccupied air of our leaders.

    (Some minutes later) Reader, I have just found out that the World Health Day is April 7th; so, I am out of order, I guess. But, no matter. My call is too important to wait till April. If by that date this all-important call has not been heeded, you can be sure I will repeat it. I’m sure you’ve found out by now that I love repeating myself.

    I feel a little right now like the tortoise. I think I’ve told you his story before. I know, I know; he has so many of them you don’t know which one. I’m talking about the one where he got stuck in a pit latrine for thirteen years. Well, there he was in that place, and the day he was being rescued, what does he do but to shout intermittently: ‘quick, quick, I can’t stand the stench of this place much longer.’ I told you I just love repeat….

    Anyway, you would have noticed that I have capitalised the first letter of every word in our topic today. That is because I want everything to emphasise the importance of this call. It is possible that the Federal Ministry of Health is already thinking of doing something, I don’t know, but the situation is too urgent to allow for too much thinking. It’s the kind that calls for shooting first and asking questions later. This means acting first and fine-tuning later.

    So sorry, reader, to be so late in introducing my subject matter today. Trouble is, my mind’s all in sixes. I’ve just read this newspaper column that says as many as 40 women and 26 men die daily in Nigeria from cancer (alone). That is unacceptably high. Let’s do a little calculation here. 40 multiplied by 365 days of the year is 14,600 for women and 9,490 for men. If we remove this combined number each year from the population (I’m not sure how many we are adding to that population through births, naturalisation, etc.), we find that the figure is dismal indeed. Can we really afford to throw these people off the grid just like that each year? This is exactly what our governments have been doing.

    The columnist went on to add that 100,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and worse, we can even expect a 75 per cent increase in the number of cases in the next decade. I am greatly troubled by this, and I expect President Buhari to be as well. The surprise is that the man still manages to sleep in the middle of all these figures. My own sleep is right now hitting a brick wall. It, these figures that is, not my sleep, calls for a solemn, sober assembly of all of us. I’ll be glad if you can also convoke a sober solemn assembly on my sleep, people, cause honestly I’ve lost it, especially since I took my calculations further.

    My calculations show that 1 in every 8,ooo+ Nigerians can be expected to be affected by this thing, going by the 180m figure people are suddenly bandying about. So, with that fact, do you seriously expect me to sleep? I am worried; you should be too even if our leaders are not. Indeed, I find it horrifying that our leaders are not worried. I think it is mostly because most of them believe they have amassed enough resources from the state to be able to jet out of the country in search of help at the least sign of trouble. Unfortunately, the thing does not really care where it strikes and will as soon hit the king as the pauper.

    So, I find this insouciance by our leaders gross and unbelievable. My dictionary defines gross as ‘disgusting, nasty, coarse, rude, vulgar, obscene, unrefined, shameful’ when used in its slang form. It however captures my sentiments right now. Believe me, I am exerting a lot of effort not to add the word vacuous, which my dictionary defines as ‘showing lack of thought or intelligence’. I believe though our leaders have not acted heretofore because we the followers have not made our feelings known.

    Well, I am hereby putting it on notice that we the followers need and want a centre dedicated to the diagnosis, research, and treatment of cancer in Nigeria, preferably yesterday so that we can learn what to do to avoid having it. Thank you very much. Maybe then, we would come close to finding the cause, course and cure for it, and the afflicted can get some solace and relief.

    In the past, this column threw many hints and clues the way of the government regarding this issue. We mentioned before that there were too many cancer-afflicted people begging on the streets with no one to care for them except relatives, neighbours and passers-by who are often helpless in the face of the disease and the exorbitant costs of care. And the government has just looked on impassively as different swollen parts of the body are paraded around streets in order to raise pittances.

    Unfortunately, the scene painted above does not speak of any kind of governance in the land. It rather speaks of the law of the jungle where everyman is for himself. The facts known about the dreaded disease make its pronouncement strike fear into people. This means that when the doctor makes the pronouncement, it is taken as a death sentence in Nigeria. The fact that those afflicted have nowhere to go for help makes it worse.

    Most hospitals in Nigeria are hardly equipped to take care of anything more than basic problems, if that. Special problems like cancer hardly fall within their budgets. As a matter of urgency, the Federal Ministry of Health needs to actualise the setting up of a centre devoted to research on and treatment of cancer or the conversion of an existing structure into such. That centre would be dedicated to the management of that big C in terms of staff, machines and drugs.

    More importantly, the government needs to work out a financial programme for the care of sufferers who may stand in need of the services of the Guardian of the Poor or the almoner. Invariably, most sufferers would. Every hospital needs one of these almoners, but those with terminal diseases need them more. The government’s Health Insurance programme is really not on target because it reaches only a small portion of the populace, and it’s too little. For instance, it is known that it can only take care of health problems that cost less than the price of a recharge card. In effect, the programme is succeeding in making a few people very, very rich and leaving many people very, very sick, but these are on their own when major illnesses strike.

    It is indeed shameful that the government appears to need convincing to do this right thing. A cancer centre and programme will help relieve people of a serious burden, and possibly reduce the frightening number of deaths from the disease. The government must take the idea very, very seriously.

  • Ebonyi contains spread of Lassa fever

    Ebonyi contains spread of Lassa fever

    The Ebonyi State Government on Friday said that it has contained further outbreak of lassa fever reported in the state since January 14th

    Dr Daniel Umezurike, the state Commissioner for Health disclosed this in Abakaliki during a sensitization program on the disease.

    Newsmen reports that the program was organised for health personnel and members of the public on ways of preventing the deadly disease.

    Umezurike said that the quick intervention of the state and federal governments in the provision of logistics and manpower, with collaboration of stakeholders helped in containing the disease.

    “The successful treatment and discharge of three suspected patients from the hospital on Jan. 25 signified the conclusion of our damage control in containing the disease.

    “We are presently focusing on intensive enlightenment of the populace to prevent a resurgence of the disease and ensure that they are abreast with its preventive measures.

    “We had six suspected cases of the disease in the state with four deaths, as nine suspected patients were admitted in hospitals over the disease,” he said.

    He commended the state governor,c for releasing N5million for equipping of the Virology Centre in the state.

    The commissioner added that the centre would be fully operational next week.

    “The admission wards at the Specialist Hospital Irrua, Edo are filled with suspected patients, as the Federal Ministry of Health provided tents at the hospital to contain more patients.

    “We intend to ameliorate the situation with experts working assiduously to ensure that all units in the virology centre become fully operational.

    “The dialysis machine has been test-run and is operating perfectly, while the experts are working to ensure that the laboratory section becomes operational soon.

    READ ALSO:No confirmed case of Lassa fever in Abuja – Director 

    “Lassa-fever tests are biologically-molecular in nature and relevant technicians undergo higher, intensive training due to the disease’s complex nature,” he said.

    He urged the people to stop embalming corpses at home, engaging in traditional throat surgery, and bush burning to ensure that Lassa-fever is totally controlled.

    “I urge traditional rulers, opinion leaders, Local Government Areas to relay this information at the grassroots and ensure that the people comply with it,” he said.

    Dr Chamberlain Nwele, state Head of Service, also commended organizers of the program and urged the people to ensure that the disease was permanently checked.

    “The people should realise that the increased rate of bush burning in our communities makes rats, the disease’s primary vector to relocate to homes.

    “We should, therefore, take suspected victims to nearest hospitals and ensure that our surroundings are generally kept clean,” he said.

    Dr Nnenna Ajayi, a physician at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, in her lecture entitled, “Lassa fever and the Community’’ remarked that the disease was preventable and curable.

    According to him, the disease does not have minor or severe level because once it is treated; the person is free and should not be discriminated against.

    NAN

  • Tobacco: Stakeholders suggest products’ tax hike to reduce use

    Tobacco: Stakeholders suggest products’ tax hike to reduce use

    Stakeholders have suggested an increase in taxes of tobacco products in the country to reduce its use and generate revenue for the country.

    They made their views known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State after two days of Technical Working Group workshop on “Tobacco Taxation.”

    The workshop was organised by Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa.

    Mr Austin Erameh, the Programme Officer of CISLAC, told NAN that one of the surest means of addressing tobacco use and control was the use of tax and price system, which he said would also generate revenue for the Nigerian government.

    He said “once you increase tax on tobacco products, prices will definitely go up and when prices go up, the use of tobacco product drops because there will be little money to buy.

    “With that, an individual will have disposable income to take care of their pressing needs.”

    He added that the workshop, with participants from Federal Ministries of Health, Finance, Budget and Planning and relevant stakeholders, reviewed the way forward for Nigeria and concluded that the country needed to review its tax system to reflect a more progressive system.

    He urged civil society organisations across the country to step up interface with
    government on tobacco control agenda to achieve the goal of drastic use of tobacco by Nigerians.

    Dr Toma Malau, a participant from Federal Ministry of Health, expressed optimism that if tax on tobacco was raised, its use would reduce and Nigerians would live a healthy live.

    He, therefore, urged relevant authorities to review taxes on tobacco products.

    He noted that “the outcome of this workshop is incredible. The expectation is that within the next couple of months, hopefully by the grace of God, tobacco taxes should be reviewed to reduce its patronage and encourage healthy living.”

    Mr Basheer Abdulkadir, another participant from Federal Ministry of Finance, said with positive experiences from other countries, increase in taxation on tobacco would double government revenue, hence the advocacy for increase.

    He said “experiences from countries like Turkey, South Africa, South Korea, Egypt show that increase in taxation on tobacco products can double government revenue.

    “We learnt that South Africa’s revenue increased nine fold between 2005 and 2009 following increase in tobacco products’ taxes.”

  • Health workers threatens strike over govt failure to obey agreement

    Health workers threatens strike over govt failure to obey agreement

    The nation’s health care system may soon witness another round of industrial dispute as the health workers under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Union plan to shut down all health institutions in the country over government failure to implement agreement entered into with the unions in 2014 as well as plans to privatize some health facilities in the country.

    President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Biobelemoye Josiah who made the assertion in Abuja Monday said the government has failed to implement an agreement signed between health workers and the government to adjust salaries of workers even though it has done the same thing for medical doctors who constitute less than five percent of health workers in the country.

    Josiah said the Federal Ministry of Health has decided to play games with health workers and the agreement freely signed, but waiting to invoke the no work, no pay policy of government when it has not obey its own said of the bargain.

    Josiah had told the NLC President who led the ,leadership  of the congress to visit the union that very soon, unions in the health sector under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions will shut down the health system in the country due to government failure to implement the 2014 collective agreement to adjust salaries of workers in the health sector.

    According to him, the government has adjusted salaries for medical doctors who constitute less than five percent of health workers in the country, pointing out that even though not a registered trade union, the Federal ministry of Health pays more attention to, and gives more recognition to the medical doctors at the expense of other health professionals.

    He said: “We are calling on NLC to help us in these areas. First, there is huge discrimination in the health industry. It is an industry where, a professional group that makes up only five per cent or less than five per cent across board is given preferential treatment.

    “When you aggregate the work force at the national and the state levels, medical doctors constitue less than five per cent of the work force, but they are given everything that they demand for. They are given preferential treatment. Even though they are not a registered trade union, they are given more recognition in the ministry

    “In 2014, we fought that battle for salary adjustment and they have adjusted for the medical doctors. But the memorandum of understanding that we signed with them is being disputed. The Federal Ministry of Health almost denied that such a thing took place unitill we were able to provide the documents.

    “But as we speak, they have not been able to adjust that salary for us and it has cause serious  ripple  within the health system and sooner or later, it might lead to complete shutdown. When the JOHUSU family meets, we are going to take far reaching decisions on that

    “I am bringing this up to you for your intervention not because we are afriad to go the battle field, but because we have serious concern for the Nigerian citizens. When we shut down, who it is the masses that will suffer.

    “Another threat to the health sector and the work force is the use of no work no pay, by the federal ministry of Health. After entering into agreement, after meeting on this agreement and they refused to listen to us, we said it is our right to withdraw services.

    “At that point, what the Federal Ministry Health will do is for them to wait for us to redraw our services and then they will say they are now invoking the no work no pay policy.

    “Our people recently carried out a survey and they have also mandated us that either no work no pay, it is time we shut down the system and that brings us to the concern of citizens of Nigeria

    Josiah stressed that the union was against the privatization or any decision to concession or operate the nation’s health institution, stressing that Nigerian will be denied quality and affordable health services if that is allowed to take place.

    He said “Nigerians should not in any case accept any of those items be it  privatization, public, private partnerships or concession. For example sir, the Garki Hospital where the PPP is being operational today that hospital is out of reach of the poor masses, card alone is N4000

    “We still believed that public health institutions are established for public good or to serve as a social service point for the four runners. So we are standing here to say no to privatization public health institutions and this is the position of the Public Service International where they said health is not for sale.

    “Very soon, we will be launching that programme after conferring with other unions in the health sector. I want to say that the issue of no work, no pay, if not addressed, where an employer will violate an agreement and where you have met all the conditions will take it as a mark of intimidation, to intimidate workers across the country simply means that they have taken from us, the right to protest and the reintroduction of slave Labour.

    “In other words, they are saying we are slave and cannot complain. I want tell the highest Labour body in the country that it is not the way to go and you should help free us from that problem so that Nigerians will have the right to protest or say no to bad policies and bad governance”.

  • UCH trains doctors, nurses, others on pain management

    UCH trains doctors, nurses, others on pain management

    The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, is training some doctors, nurses and other staffers on pain management to equip them to assess the condition and provide high-quality first line treatment.

    Dr. Adefemi Afolabi, Staff Champion Coordinator of the Pain-Free Hospital Initiative (PFHI), made the disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ibadan.

    Afolabi, an endocrine surgeon, said the programme was being conducted in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and the American Cancer Society.

    According to him, the goal of PFHI is to equip staff to assess pain, provide high-quality first line treatment to improve on the overall access to essential pain medication in Nigeria.

    He said that to effectively implement pain management in a healthcare system required more than just access to medicines.

    “It requires an understanding of when and how to give pain medication and prioritisation of pain management as an essential part of care.

    “Over the course of one year, PFHI is to train physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare providers on how to assess pain levels and dispense medication.

    “The programme is to stress the importance of pain management for patients, specifically those suffering from pain-related to cancer and HIV,” he said.

    Afolabi said that the PFHI was being piloted at four hospitals throughout Nigeria, including University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, and National Hospital, Abuja.

    He also said it was envisioned that the one-year pilot project would further refine the design of the project model for effective replication in other federal tertiary health facilities in Nigeria.

    He added that the primary goal was to actively raise the quality of life for every Nigerian through dedicated service delivery.

    According to him, the PFHI is a pilot programme to strengthen the skills of health workers and equip them to provide high-quality pain treatment to their patients in line with International Treatment Guidelines.

    “The project will ensure adequate supply of pain medicines at affordable rate in hospitals and will be used appropriately.

    “In 2012, about 180,000 people were estimated to have died from moderate or severe pain from HIV or cancer in Nigeria.

    “In the same year, the utilisation of narcotic medication like morphine which has been designated as an essential pain relief medication by the World Health Organisation (WHO) was enough to treat only 266 people out of the above number.

    “This represents only 0.2 per cent coverage of pain treatment needed,” he told NAN.

    “In response to this problem, the Federal Ministry of Health began working with the American Cancer Society’s “Treat the Pain” programme to implement a broad pain management system and imported 19.2kg of pulverised morphine.

    “The Roll-Out of Pain Free Hospital Initiative became the next step of the collaboration process.

    “The pain treatment is an international programme within the American Cancer Society to improve access to pain medicines.

    “The programme provides technical support to improve patient access to Opioid Analgesics with a focus on low and middle-income countries with high unmet need for pain relief.”

    Afolabi said that the focus of the project was to increase the consumption of opioid (pain analgesics) to 50 per cent at the end of the year.

    He said that the training of doctors, nurses and other allied-health workers would increase their awareness of pain, types of pains, how to evaluate pains and pain treatment.

    According to the endocrine surgeon, six to seven out of 10 patients come to hospitals because of pain, and therefore, training of these health professionals will go a long way in achieving set goals.

    “Because of this, we have made pain evaluation the fifth vital signs chart in UCH as our major aim to reduce pains of patients to the barest minimum or to zero level.

    “The training of staff on pain types, identification, evaluation and treatment will go a long way in helping the PFHI project through the charts.

    “Any patient who comes in can begin to use the charts to score their pains which in turn will assist doctors to gauge and apply appropriate dose of analgesics on them.

    “The project will be launched at a yet-to-be announced date after training has been completed,” he said.

  • NMA rejects planned harmonisation of health workers’ salaries

    NMA rejects planned harmonisation of health workers’ salaries

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called on the Federal Government to shelve its planned harmonisation of salaries of health workers in the country.

    The association’s position is contained in a communiqué issued by Dr Mike Ogirima, President of NMA, on Sunday at the end of the 57th Annual General Meeting and Delegate Conference of the association, held in Calabar, from April 24 to 29 .

    It noted although health workers faced many hazards in the discharge of their duties, their output could not be compared to doctors who performed the bulk of the medical services.

    “There is an attempt to harmonise the salaries and the Federal Ministry of Health is at the lead of that attempt, which is currently causing a lot of disharmony in the health sector.

    “Medical doctors are highly skilled and few in the country; the cut-off mark for medical students now is 280 and above. Everybody wants to accept that title of doctor in the medical set up; we are not against that.

    “What we are against is the fact that everybody cannot be equated to be equal. In the animal kingdom, all animals are equal; but some are more equal than others,” it said.

    The association said that it was not against moves to enhance the welfare of other health workers, but insisted that relativity should be maintained.

    “We are not saying that the welfare of other medical workers should not be taken care of, but that relativity should be maintained when we talk of salaries of health workers in the hospitals.

    “The NMA is calling on government to evaluate different professionals in the health sector and audit the output they put at work.

    “With that, there will be more objective data and statistics to buttress our point, asking for maintenance of the relativity,” it added.

    The communiqué also lamented the deteriorating state of infrastructures in public health institutions across the country and called on governments at all levels, to place premium on developing the sector.

    It called on the Federal Government to be proactive by having a strong rapid emergency response team to handle outbreak of diseases, just as it stressed the need to resume local production of vaccines in the country.

    On the outbreak of Cerebral Spinal Meningitis across the country, the NMA condemned the poor handling of the outbreak of the disease in some states.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NMA also ratified the adoption of the association’s seal/stamp for medical practitioners to check quackery in the profession.

     

  • FG inaugurates governing Boards, Councils of tertiary health institutions

    The Federal Ministry of Health on Friday in Abuja, inaugurated the Governing Boards and Councils of some tertiary health institutions, to strengthen the health sector.

    Speaking at the occasion, Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, urged the appointees to support the vision and core values of President Muhammadu Buhari on transparency and accountability.

    He said the composition of the membership had been done in conformity with the laws and Act setting up the various Councils and Boards.

    He said their main function was to provide carry out oversight functions on the management to ensure smooth implementation of government policies, as well as efficient and effective utilization of resources.

    Adewole however cautioned the appointees against direct involvement in day-to-day administration of the institutions, saying such function resides with the Registrars and Chief Executives.

    He also advised the appointees to be mindful of the need for efficient management of scarce resources at all times while discharging their duties.

    “It is our expectation that you will strengthen the resource base of the institutions, increase internally generated revenues and quality of services and training.

    “Everything must be done in accordance with due process, especially the procurement processes, where the Councils and Boards will provide oversight,” he said.

    The minister advised that recruitment of staff should also follow due process, stressing that the constitutional role of the Federal Character Commission must be respected and adhered to.

    Dr Abosede Ofi, Chairperson NMCN, while responding on behalf of the appointees, said they would study the laws establishing their institutions to enable them work in accordance with the rules and due process.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) has 22 members, with Dr Abosede Ofi as chairman; Dental Technologist Registration Board, 12 members, with Mr Vincent Ezeasor as chairman and the Chartered Chemist of Nigeria, 17 members, with Prof. Okieimen Ebhodahe as chairman.

    Others are 18 – member Institute of Public Analyst of Nigeria, with Dr Dahiru Adamau as chairman, 19-member Dental Therapist Registration Board, with Malam Jariri Saulawa as chairman, as well as 13-member Radiographers Registration Board, with Mr. AFK Bakare as chairman.

     

  • Health ministry certifies Fanta, Sprite safe for consumers

    Health ministry certifies Fanta, Sprite safe for consumers

    The Federal Ministry of Health Friday put the controversy over the status of Fanta and Sprite to rest.

    The ministry declared both brands safe for consumption.

    There had been wide spread fears in the country following  the judgement of a Lagos High Court that  the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) should  order  the Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) to issue a mandatory warning that the contents should not be taken with Vitamin C in order to avoid poisoning.

    The ministry waded into the meeting yesterday by calling a meeting with officials of the Department of Food and Drug Services, NAFDAC, and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to address the matter.

    Spokesman for the ministry,Mr. Akinola Boade, said in a statement at the end of the meeting that the findings of the Ministry’s investigation revealed that both Benzoic acid and Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) are ingredients approved by International Food Safety regulators and used in many food and beverage products around the world.

    He said the Benzoic acid content in both drinks remains within the specification set by Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC),the organ established by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) to set internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines relating to foods, food production, and food safety.

    He said: “In the case of Benzoic acid, the standard set by Codex was 600mg/kg until recently reviewed to 250mg/kg and adopted in 2016 (CODEX STAN 192–1995 revised 2015 and 2016).

    “With reference to the Codex standard and other relevant documents, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) as the standard setting body in Nigeria in consultation with technical experts and relevant stakeholders elaborated the standard of benzoic acid in soft drinks to be at 250mg/kg based on the National climatic and storage conditions – this standard has been in existence since 1997 and revised in 2008 (NIS 217:2008).

    “The levels of benzoic acid in Fanta (1 batch) and Sprite (2 batches) presented by the claimant in the court are 188.64mg/kg, 201.06mg/kg and 161.5mg/kg respectively; these levels are in compliance with both the Codex and Nigeria Industrial Standards.”

    The ministry pointed out that “NAFDAC and SON regularly monitor the manufacturing practices of food industries and conduct laboratory analysis to ascertain continuous compliance with required national standards; there was a routine inspection conducted at Nigeria Bottling Company by NAFDAC officers in December 2016 which was satisfactory.”

    On the difference between the standard of Fanta and Sprite in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, it said “each country or region is permitted to adapt a standard/limit based on country-specific scientific evidence such as environmental, storage and distribution conditions; Benzoic acid as a preservative prevents the growth of microorganisms which thrive more at higher climatic temperatures like in Nigeria.

    “Due to the different environmental conditions obtainable in the UK, the standard for benzoic acid was set at a lower limit of 150mg/kg while in Nigeria it was set at 250mg/kg even below that of Codex (as at time of production of that batch; Codex limit was 600mgkg); and Food products being imported into a country must comply with the relevant standards of the destination country.”

    It said the plaintiff in the suit that sparked the controversy “did not obtain NAFDAC certification before export, otherwise, he would have been advised on the required standard of the destination country.”

     

  • Labour, FG on collision course over violation of Public Service Rule

    Labour, FG on collision course over violation of Public Service Rule

    Organised Labour are set for a possible showdown with the Federal Ministry of Health over the decision to reinstate the Medical Director of the Federal a Medical Centre, Owerri, Dr. Angela Uwakwem in contravention of the Public Service Rules.

    Labour is accusing the Minister of State, Dr. Osagie Ehanire who over sees Federal Medical Centres across the country of contravening public service rule 030406 by reinstating Dr.Uwakwem five days after she was formally arraigned before an Owerri High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) along with two others.

    In reinstating her, the Ministry had said that after due consultation, they found out that Dr. Uwakwem has not committed any offence.

    President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba told newsmen in Abuja that organised Labour was surprised that the Minister would order the reinstatement of a public officer who was undergoing criminal trial for fraud instead of interdicting her.

    Wabba explained that the public service rules stipulate where a prima facie case has been established against a public officer, such an officer shall be interdicted.

    He said that rather than interdicting her, the minister of State wrote a letter asking her to resume duty as the Medical Director of the Centre and given a full complement of security agents that led her into the FMC, Owerri despite protest by the five unions at the centre.

    Wabba said: “there were two issues in contention at the FMC, Owerri. Last year, we succeeded in resolving the industrial relation issue and referred the one that has to do with corruption and mismanagement of resources to the relevant agency of government which is the EFCC for investigation.

    “She was then suspended from office, while a caretaker management was put in place. We did not even know that investigations were ongoing. The EFCC concluded their investigations and established a prima facie case against her. She was formally arraigned in court on an 18 count charge on October 11, 2016.

    “To our surprise, five days later, the Minister of State for Health wrote a letter asking her to return to her duty post from the suspension she embarked upon last year and we felt that something is wrong somewhere because the is against the rules.

    “She went to the hospital with security men, including Mobile Police and right now, she is threatening the whistle  lower who wrote the petition against her and all the witnesses listed against her by the EFCC. Together with my counterpart in the TUC, we went to the senior Minister, Prof, Adewale to complain and he claimed he was not aware and that we should get a copy of the court papers for him.

    “We have obtained a certified True copy of the suit filed against her by the EFCC and my colleague in the TUC has forwarded it to the Minister. All we are saying is that government must live by example. They should not been seen to be going against the laws of the land.

    “Infact, rule 030409 of the civil service rules require her to her to inform her employers who, in this case is the Ministry of Health that she has been charged to court. She has not done this”.

    “We are going to write to the President, the Presidential Committee on Corruption, the Minister of Justice and other relevant agencies of government putting them on notice. If nothing is done about this, we will have no option than to protest.”

    Wabba said reinstating her back to her position as Medical Director of the Centre while she is undergoing g trial can impede the course of Justice as it may give her the opportunity to tamper with evidence against her as well as intimidate witnesses.

    He said “immediately she resumed duty, she queried the staff who petitioner her and threatened the witnesses listed against her. She has even threatened not to pay their salaries”.

    Wabba said reinstating Dr. Uwakwem when a case of corruption has been established against her will rubbish the anti-corruption crusade of the zhuhai administration and warned that the union will not accept such an action.

  • Police parades fake doctor

    The Nigeria Police Force Tuesday paraded a fake doctor for impersonation and other offences.

    Until his arrest, the suspect, Martins Ugwu Okpe, a level 13 officer had worked in the Federal Ministry of Health as a Medical Doctor impersonating his friend who is a medical doctor, Dr. George Davidson Daniel for nine years.

    The Federal Civil Service Commission had asked the IG to initiate the process of investigation and prosecution of Martin Ogwu Okpe after discovering that he gained access into the Civil Service impersonating his friend.

    The 44 year old suspect, who hails from Benue State, admitted that he never attended any higher institution.

    He however claimed that he impersonated his friend because he wanted to uncover the mess in the health sector.

    The suspect who was paraded at the Force headquarters in Abuja is expected to be charged to a court in few days time.

    According to the Deputy Force Spokesman, Abayomi Shogunle, “Okpe a native of Ogbadibo LGA of Benue state dishonestly took away copies of the academic credentials of a friend named George Davidson Daniel, a medical doctor practicing in Jos without his knowledge and used same to secure appointment with the Federal ministry of Health in Abuja claiming his identity since 2006.

    “He has been parading himself as medical doctor in the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja for almost one decade and was among medical volunteers trained by the ministry in conjunction with the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) in Liberia.

    Shogunle added:  “Martins Ugwu Okpe would soon be arraigned in a court of competent jurisdiction for the offences of theft, impersonating a medical doctor, wearing and carrying token used by medical doctors, dishonestly receiving what he is not due for, framing of incorrect document with intent to cause injury, breach of official trust, criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, all in contravention of section 288, 132, 133, 122, 124, 99, 398 and 399 respectively of Penal Code laws of the federal republic of Nigeria.”

    The Force however advised Nigerians to ensure diligence in keeping valuable documents to avoid falling prey to unscrupulous elements.