#JOHESUStrike2018: JOHESU, AHPA Vow to Sustain Strike Till Demands are Met
• Blames health, labour ministers for deaths in hospital
• NMA urges suspension
• Kano orthopedic hospital opens register to monitor absentees
Leaders of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), and the Assembly of Healthcare Professionals Association (AHPA), have resolved to continue their ongoing strike.
The Secretary General of JOHESU, Silas Ademu disclosed this yesterday at a joint meeting of the unions in Lokoja, Kogi State.
According to him, government officials saddled with the responsibility of negotiating with them were the same people thwarting the peaceful settlement of the dispute.
The unions vowed to continue the strike, whether with “court order, or no court order.”
He challenged the union members to take their destiny in their hands by continuing the struggle in the face of hunger and intimidation.
Ademu said the unions were yet to receive any court injunction.
He also berated a non-governmental organisation that secured an injunction from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja to destabilise the unions from fighting for their rights.
The Kogi State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Onuh Edoka, expressed concern that workers welfare in the country had never been achieved without struggle.
Also, Chairperson of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Abuja chapter, Deborah Yusuf, appealed to government to do the needful in the interest of the masses.
Meanwhile, the National Orthopedic Hospital in Kano has opened record of workers who have refused to resume their duties.
This followed the directive by the Federal Ministry of Health that they should do so.
The Director of Administration at the hospital, Audu Ibrahim, told The Guardian that all heads of department had been directed to open attendance list to fish out absentees.
Also, the Nigeria Medical Association NMA) has urged JOHESU to be reasonable in their demands and suspend the strike in the interest of the masses.
FCT Chairman of the association, Dr. Chiedozie Achonwa, made the appeal in Abuja.
He lamented that health institutions have been locked down by the strike, making it difficult for patients to have access tohealthcare.
Achonwa cautioned that while unionism and activism are encouraged, they must not be carried to the extreme.
He expressed concern at the union’s delusion that the system ccould always be brought to its knees for their unreasonable, baseless and reckless demands to be acceded to.
By: John Akubo (Lokoja) and Murtala Adewale (Kano), Nkechi Onyedika-Ugoeze (Abuja) and Stanley Akpunonu (Lagos)
The Guardian News
