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Tag: NUAHP

  • Health workers to FG: Address salary delay or risk nationwide strike

    Health workers to FG: Address salary delay or risk nationwide strike

    The Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) has urged the federal government to immediately pay outstanding salary arrears, warning that failure to do so could trigger a nationwide strike that may paralyse the health sector.

    In a communiqué issued after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held Tuesday in Jos, Plateau state, the union expressed deep frustration over the prolonged delay in implementing the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), which has been pending for years despite repeated promises.

    In a statement, jointly signed by NUAHP President Kamal Ibrahim and General Secretary Martin Egbanubi, the union criticised the government for failing to match the salary review granted to medical doctors under the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) with a similar adjustment for other health professionals.

    “Since 2014, the government has adjusted salaries for medical practitioners but failed to replicate the same for other healthcare workers, thereby violating the collective bargaining agreement that established parity between CONMESS and CONHESS,” the union stated.

    The union reminded the government of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on October 29, 2024, which led to the suspension of an earlier nationwide strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU). However, they lamented that the government has not fulfilled its commitments under the agreement.

    “NEC-in-Session warns about the implications of resuming the suspended strike action on the health sector and the nation in general if the Federal Government fails to urgently address this matter, which is a dispute of right,” the communiqué stated.

    They also called on President Bola Tinubu to fulfil the assurance he gave JOHESU leaders during a meeting at Aso Rock on June 5, 2023, by directing relevant ministries, departments, and agencies, particularly the Presidential Committee on Salaries, to urgently resolve the matter to ensure lasting industrial peace.

    NUAHP further demanded the immediate payment of seven months’ salary arrears, covering June to December 2023.

    Read Also: Kaduna to recruit 1,800 health workers

    They noted that these payments were already captured in the 2024 budget and the proposed 2025 budget, yet remain unpaid.

    “NEC described as unacceptable the delay in payment, which it considered a breach of the October 2024 MoU and the resolution reached on December 20, 2024,” the statement added. “NEC therefore demands the payment of these arrears without further delay to avert industrial action.”

    The union also raised concerns about the rising cost of living and the worsening welfare of healthcare workers, which they said is contributing to a wave of emigration among professionals in the sector.

    To stem the tide, NUAHP urged the government to introduce incentives such as tax relief on clinical duties, including call duty, shift duty, and teaching allowances, and to implement a retention allowance to encourage health professionals to remain in the country.

    “These measures are necessary to cushion the harsh economic conditions and reduce the ongoing brain drain in the healthcare sector,” the statement concluded.

  • Health workers declare nationwide strike

    Health workers across the country under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) on Monday declared a nationwide indefinite strike following alleged government’s insensitivity to their plights.

    Already, with the declaration of the strike, patients at the University College Hospital (UCH) have started groaning on the pains and hardship the strike would bring to the sick ones who were admitted in the hospital.

    The aggrieved health workers said since the 2009 pact reached with the government, nothing has been done by the government to implement the agreement.

    NUAHP is made up of physiotherapists, dietitians, medical laboratory scientists, radiographers, optometrists, pharmacists, dental therapists, dental technologists, medical physicists, health information officers, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and medical social workers and others.

    Addressing journalists at a press conference held at UCH on Monday, the National President of NUAHP, Dr. Ogbonna Obinna Chimeola, maintained that “the indefinite strike action which kicked off at 12:00 a.m. on Monday had become inevitable as the Federal Government had neither seen any reason to address the issues in contention positively nor communicate to the union the resolutions of the high-powered meeting held last month at the instance of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).”

    “The union had waited patiently and had shown enough restraints and had exhausted all other industrial means because of the poor Nigerian masses who will suffer when we withdraw our services from the health facilities nationwide.

    We have been pushed to the wall and this strike is inevitable,” the NUAHP president said.

     

  • Health workers begin indefinite strike

    Health workers begin indefinite strike

    Health workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) Tuesday embarked on an indefinite national strike over alleged unwillingness by the Federal Government to attend to their demands.

    The union had last week threatened industrial action, if the Federal Government fails to honour its demands.

    Mostly to be affected are medical laboratory, X-ray, physiotherapy, pharmacy, nursing services and others.

    A statement by NUAHP, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan branch yesterday reads: “This is to inform you that the NUAHP commenced an indefinite strike action to protest government’s unwillingness to attend to our demands after promising to do so immediately after the election.”

    The beginning of the strike coincided with that of Association of Resident Doctors, UCH branch, over unpaid skipping allowances by the management.

    The two unions’ action has further worsened the condition of medical services, leaving hundreds of helpless patients to suffer.

    NUAHP gave the Federal Government till Monday, this week, to address their demands, failure which it threatened to embark on indefinite strike.

    NUAHP immediate past President Felix Faniran and his successor, Dr. Obinna Ogbonna, who jointly addressed a news conference at UCH last Tuesday, claimed that salary and allowances of their colleagues in the medical and dental fields have improved.

    But, they lamented that “the Federal Government turned deaf ears to NUAHP members’ demands”.

    The union’s demands include the implementation of the adjusted salary of its members as done for the medical association, payment of arrears on skipping of CONHESS 10 since year 2010 in compliance with a court judgment, promotion of its members from CONHESS 14 to 15 for those who have spent over 15 years on the grade and designate the most senior as director or head of department.

    Other demands include appointment of its members as chief medical directors of various tertiary hospitals, rather than medical practitioners alone.

    The union said the industrial action it embarked upon early this year was suspended following plea by President Goodluck Jonathan, promising to resolve all pending issues after the general election.

    The strike, the union noted, was suspended on February 2, after which a joint press conference was addressed by the Health Minister, Dr. Khaliru Alhasan, and JOHESU Chairman Ayuba Wabba.

    Efforts to see the president after the election, the union revealed, have been abortive.

    It stressed that its decision to go on strike to press home its demands was taken at its 6th triennial delegates’ conference, which took place last week in Uyo, where “a 7-day ultimatum was given to the Federal Government starting from May 11 to May 17, 2015”.

    Faniran lamented that its members were not allowed to reach the peak of their career despite many years spent in the university.

    “It will be unethical for us to welcome the incoming administration with a strike. But we would like to put it on record that the outgoing administration has failed to fulfill any of the agreement reached with us three years ago. This is the best time for us to go on strike because the last time we embarked on industrial action during the electioneering campaign, we were accused of being bought over by the opposition and we had to call it off to show respect for the office of Mr. President.

    “If we fail to continue from where we stopped, they will say we are sympathetic to the cause of the incoming administration,” he said.

    He warned heads of health institutions against privatising government health Institutions for their selfish gains, saying that would “make hospital services to be out of reach of commoners and staff retrenchment to satisfy their whims and caprices.”

     

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  • Striking health workers storm Ibadan

    Striking health workers storm Ibadan

    •Strike goes on

    The industrial action by members of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) and the  Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) yesterday took a new dimension as the striking  health workers  stormed Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    They vowed to continue the over three months strike, until the government responds to their demands.

    The workers, led by the National President of the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy, Dr Taiwo Oyewumi of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, declared that President Goodluck Jonathan had been fed with lies on the strike.

    Adewumi warned the Federal Government not to withhold the salaries of the striking  workers, saying such method would aggravate the situation.

    Many lives, he said, have been lost, while all government hospitals have been deserted, leaving patients in agony.

    Addressing reporters at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Adewumi said the workers were aware of the plan to frustrate their efforts to press home their demands.

    He said the workers were eager to return to work but were yet to receive the Federal Government’s circular that would formalise the agreements reached.

    “We are aware of the effect of the strike. This is because hospital services require team work. No profession can stand on its own unless the teams work together as a unit.

    “The eight-point demands of JOHESU and Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals are still the same but it is disappointing that the government has refused to do the right thing.

    “Since the declaration, there have been meetings with government representatives. Six meetings were held between October 15 and December 24, last year.

    “The minister of Labour and Productivity, who presided over the December 22 meeting, promised to meet President Goodluck Jonathan to get approval leading to the issuance of circulars on the said matters.

    “Of the 10 circulars we are expecting, only one was issued which is the one concerning consultant status of other health professionals. We are ready to call off the strike but it seems the President is being fed with wrong information on the effect of the strike.”

    Adewumi said the workers have rejected some of the recommendations of the Yayale Ahmed Report because some of the issues raised were matters pending in court.

    “The Yayale Ahmed Report duplicated duties and that is one of the reasons why we rejected it. We rejected the office of the Surgeon General so there is no reason for the report to introduce or recommend it again.”

  • ‘Abolish medical advisory post’

    ‘Abolish medical advisory post’

    There seems to be no end in sight in the rivalry between medical doctors and other health workers.

    President, Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) Felix Faniran, at the weekend, called for the abolition of the post of Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (DCMAC) in tertiary hospitals.

    He said the position “is illegal”, stressing that it constitutes a drain pipe on the finances of the hospital and encourages fraud.

    He accused the Federal Government of fueling the crisis in the sector.

    NUAHP called for a balance in the appointment of Ministers of Health, advising that of the two ministers appointed, one should be  from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and one from Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU).

    Also, Faniran urged the Federal Ministry of Finance to institute a thorough study on how funds are expended in all the tertiary hospitals.

    On why the EFCC and ICPC should intervene, he said: “The resident doctors do most of the work in the hospital and the consultants take the money; that is fraudulent.

    “Those we call consultants are university lecturers; they  have their full time job in the university. These consultants receive not less than N400,000 to N500,000 every month. They receive more allowances than the salary they take in the university. The government must remove this fraud.”

    On the post of DCMAC, Faniran said: “Our stand is that this post should be abolished because it was not provided for in the Act U 15 LFN 2004 that governs Teaching Hospitals. It is therefore an illegality.

    “It constitutes a drain pipe on the finances of the hospital and encourages fraud. We are calling on the ICPC and the EFCC to set their drag nets on the various hospitals in Nigeria. A lot of fraud is taking place there.

    “We also call on the minister of Finance, Okonjo Iweala, to do a special study of how funds are expended in the various hospitals.”

    He, however, condemned the decision of the Federal Ministry of Health that only those registerable with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria could use the designation ‘Consultant’, stressing that “it is not only a ruse, it is false, incorrect, wrong and unacceptable.”

     

     

  • Workers demand transperency in CMD appointment

    Health workers under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) have called for  a more transparent way of appointing Chief Medical Directors (CMD) for tertiary health institutions. They urged the Federal Government to give deserving medically qualified health care professionals equal chances.

    In a communique issued at the end of its meeting, the union asked the Federal Government, National Assembly and Head of Service of the Federation to reorganise, restructure and reposition the Federal Ministry of Health to make room for  other qualified health care professionals  at the directorate levels.

    According to them, the culture of going to teaching hospitals of public health care institutions to pick individuals for the office of CMDs for health centres and hospitals without recourse to other qualified professionals within the system is not good enough.

    The communique, which was signed by NUAHP National President, Comrade Felix Faniran and other key officials of the body,urged the Federal Government to look into their demand  without delay to forestall imminent industrial harmony in the health  sector.

    The communique reads: “The practice where full time university staff are appointed as chief medical directors instead of full time employees of the hospital shall no longer be acceptable.

    “All members of the union who are qualified should henceforth apply and be considered along with others for appointment.

    “We urge that a democratic process of electing chief executives of hospitals from among various health professionals be put in place. The position should be made competitive and the best material should be selected from the process.”

    The union, however declared it would abide by the resolution of six weeks ultimatum reached with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and Federal Ministry of Health to address all issues negotiated and collectively agreed within the time frame of agreement.

    NUAHP threatened that industrial harmony may  not be guaranteed if the issues raised remained unaddressed at the expiration of the ultimatum.