By Alex Odeh
The Ebonyi State Chairman National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), has decried the working condition of Nurses in Nigeria as embarrassing.
Comrade Obasi Chukwu, the Ebonyi State Chairman of NANNM, disclosed this at the ongoing biannual National Examiners Workshop in collaboration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), held in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital.
He disclosed that in Ebonyi State nurses, despite the workshop ,were fully participating in the ongoing seven days warning Strike to press home their demand of better working condition.
He said, “So there is an ongoing industrial action, the seven-day warning strike declared by the National Association of Nurses and Midwives, but it is not affecting this particular workshop. But there is total compliance to the industrial action in the state.
He explained further the reason why the nurses embarked on the warning strike, hinging it on the lackadaisical attitude of the federal government to the plight of Nigeria nurses.
“This seven-day industrial action or warning strike is premised on the platform that the Federal Government of Nigeria has paid deaf ears to the demands and yearnings of Nigerian nurses.And our patience has been overstretched.
“Like I said, there are so many things but there are just very small things we are asking them that they can do. One is increment in our professional allowances. Yes, because nurses are paid peanuts. And of course, when you also come, our nurses are overstretched.
He lamented the large number of nurses exiting the country and the federal government refusal to employ more nurses in order to complement the workforce and provide job opportunities to graduate nurses.
“Look at the number of nurses who are leaving this country. We are asking them to employ more nurses. There are so many nurses who are not employed. And we are also asking them to create a separate directorate of nursing services in the Federal Ministry of Health, where our issues can be discussed and attended to.
“And that directorate will be headed by a nurse. We are also asking that our graduate nurses, on graduation from the universities, there should be a platform for their internship to be centralized. So that it’s not when they graduate, begin to roam the streets looking for where to do internship.
He also called for the increment of nurses’ allowances, “We are also asking them to increase the allowances that are paid to nurses. For instance, our uniform allowance. In fact, it is very embarrassing to hear that nurses are paid 20,000 in a whole year as uniform allowance.
“The minimum number of uniform that a nurse can use in a week to work is six. And of course, considering the present economic realities, 20,000 cannot even buy one material. Not to talk of making a uniform. So it’s an embarrassment to Nigerian nurses.
He wondered why the federal government was insensitive to their demand, even when it was meant to provide better healthcare to Nigerians.
The federal government is still dragging feet about that. So just in a nutshell, these are some of the few things that the associations are demanding from the government. But by and large, all of them is geared towards improving nursing practice and for the betterment of the Nigerian populace”, he stated.
