The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has announced it will begin a seven-day warning strike over what it describes as the federal government’s failure to meet long-standing demands.
The association had earlier issued a 15-day ultimatum starting July 14, warning that it would proceed with industrial action if there was no progress on the issues raised.
Jama Medan, NANNM chairman in the federal capital territory told reporters that the union is mobilising its members across all levels of healthcare nationwide.
“We will embark on a seven-day warning strike starting midnight on July 29. After the strike, if the federal government still does not respond to us, we will then decide the next line of action,” he said.
Among the demands, Medan listed the gazetting of the nurses scheme of service approved by the National Council on Establishments in 2016 in Minna, Niger State, and the implementation of a judgment by the National Industrial Arbitration Court delivered on January 27, 2012.
Other demands include an upward review of professional allowances for nurses and midwives, employment of additional nursing personnel, and the adequate provision of equipment for health facilities.
The association is also calling for the creation of a Department of Nursing in the Federal Ministry of Health, inclusion of nurses in leadership roles in health policy making, fair representation on boards of federal health institutions, centralised internship posting for graduate nurses, and recognition of nurses and midwives as consultants.
NANNM further demanded the withdrawal of the recently released circular on reviewed allowances for health workers, describing its contents as “grossly inadequate and discriminatory.”
The strike was also announced through a message shared on the association’s social media platforms, advising the public to prepare for disruptions in service delivery.
“All government owned health facilities across the nation will be affected. The federal government has refused to improve the healthcare sector by addressing our demand,” the message reads.
