The decision followed an agreement reached at a meeting between the federal government and the association’s National Executive Council, NEC, on August 1.

The suspension notice, made available to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, was signed by NANNM National President, Mr Haruna Mamman, and its National Secretary, Dr T.A. Shettima.

According to the notice, the decision to suspend the strike was taken during a NEC meeting held on Saturday, August 2, to deliberate on the outcome of negotiations with the federal government.

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The meeting involved the Ministers of Health, Labour and Employment, and other key stakeholders.

The notice stated that after an extensive review of the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, and the agreed time-bound implementation framework, the NEC resolved to suspend the strike.

The NEC acknowledged the positive steps taken by the federal government in addressing the association’s nine core demands.

It also directed the national leadership to continue monitoring the implementation of the signed MoU and to track government compliance with the agreed timelines.

In addition, all state councils had been instructed to mobilise members for immediate resumption of duty.

“NEC resolved that no member of NANNM, including interns and locum nurses, should be victimised for participating in the nationwide nurses’ strike,” the notice said.

The NEC also expressed appreciation for the commitment and solidarity of members throughout the industrial action, reaffirming that NANNM remained steadfast in defending the welfare, dignity, and professional rights of all nurses and midwives in Nigeria.

Source: NAN

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The Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of the association, Mr Oloruntoba Odumosu, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Lagos.

Nigerian nurses, under the aegis of NANNM, had embarked on a seven-day warning strike on July 30 to press home some demands.

The strike, which follows expiration of a 15-day ultimatum the association gave to the government, is coming amid a faceoff between doctors and the government over welfare and other issues.

Odumosu told NAN that the government was to hold a meeting with national leaders of the union on Thursday to dialogue to resolve the issues leading to the warning strike.

He said that the outcome of the meeting would guide the association’s next line of action.

“Because it is a national issue and a national strike, we are not engaging the Lagos State Government; we can only put pressure on the Federal Government to listen to us.

“These demands have been long overdue; some of them are things that are four decades old.

“Ordinarily, we should have lost patience a long time ago. This is the first time the association has gone on strike as NANNM in over two decades.

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“Before we called for this strike, we had given the government an ultimatum which it failed to address; rather, it was addressing the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and meeting with the members,” he said.

He said that nurses were the largest professional group in the health sector, urging the government to meet the demands.

“We want to stop brain drain, but we can’t if the policies are not there to address our concerns.

“We appeal to the government to accede to our demands quickly so that we can end this needless suffering and loss of lives among patients,” he said.

According to him, monitoring teams are on ground in all Lagos primary, secondary and tertiary public hospitals to ensure full compliance with the industrial action.

The strike has paralysed healthcare services nationwide, leaving patients stranded and putting pressure on other health professionals.

The nurses’ demands include gazetting of the Nurses Scheme of Service approved by the National Council on Establishment in 2016, upward review of professional allowance for nurses and midwives, and employment of more nurses.

The others include provision of adequate health facilities, creation of a department of nursing in the Federal Ministry of Health, and implementation of a National Industrial Court judgment of Jan. 27, 2012.

The NMA has also given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to meet its demands or face an indefinite nationwide strike by medical doctors.

Source: NAN

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Mr Muhammad Dingyadi, Minister of Labour and Employment, made the appeal on Wednesday in Abuja at a meeting with the leadership of the association.

Nurses across Nigeria, under (NANNM), have announced a seven-day warning strike beginning Wednesday night, over welfare and other pressing issues.

The aggrieved workers, specifically, are demanding for improved working conditions, better welfare packages, and increased recognition, inadequate staffing, limited resources, insufficient remuneration, among others.

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The minister, however, implored them to step back from their planned action, stating that “strike is not the best solution to industrial disputes.’’

He urged the association to embrace dialogue while the government continued to work on addressing their concerns.

The meeting will continue on Friday at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Health, as the government works out a resolution to the dispute.

Source: NAN

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The unions include the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM; Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals, NUAHP; the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, and the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU.

Oloruntoba Odumosu, Secretary of NANNM, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, insisted that the strike would hold following the expiration of an ultimatum issued by the unions.

Odumosu disclosed that a meeting of the union leaders with officials of the state government on December 9 also ended in an impasse.

“The government officials couldn’t give us a clear timeline for the implementation of our demands and there’s no governor’s approval for the payment.

“We reported the feedback to the Congress, which was ongoing at our secretariat, and it unanimously voted ‘No’, insisting on proceeding with the strike,” he said.

He complained that the matter had lingered for long, in spite of numerous attempts by the unions to resolve it amicably.

“However, it has become clear that the government does not accord the issue the seriousness it deserves.

“Engagement on December 2 with the Ministry of Establishments and Training further reinforced our concerns as the meeting failed to provide clarity on the computation method for the adjustment.

“This is particularly concerning given that Lagos State does not operate the full CONHESS structure, nor did it yield a definite timeline for payment.

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“This is especially disheartening as adjustments have already been implemented for doctors since October 2024.

“This approach, which prioritises some segments of the health workforce while neglecting others, is divisive and undermines the collective morale of health professionals in the state,” he said.

Odumosu regretted that the government appears ‘indifferent’ to addressing their legitimate demands in spite of the critical roles played by members of the unions in ensuring the delivery of quality healthcare to Lagos residents.

“The handling of this matter has left us with no other choice but to resort to this warning strike, spanning from December 11 to December 13.

“It is aimed at pressing home our demands for the full implementation of the CONHESS adjustment for all eligible health workers in Lagos state,” he said.

Similarly, Kamaldeen Kabiawu, State Secretary, NUAHP, decried the delayed implementation of the 25 per cent CONHESS adjustment, especially after the government approved a 35 per cent CONMESS adjustment for doctors in October 2024.

The strike will affect all state-owned health facilities – Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, general hospitals, and Primary Health centres, PHCs.

Members of the unions include nurses, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, dieticians, medical laboratory scientists, optometrists and radiographers.

Others are dental therapists, medical physicists, health information managers, clinical psychologists and medical social workers.

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Chairman, NANNM, Lagos Council, Mr Olurotimi Awojide, made the disclosure at a news conference on Friday in Lagos.

He said that the warning strike was to protest poor remuneration and working conditions in the Lagos health sector.

Awojide said that the strike was also to send a clear message to stakeholders that nurses would no longer continue to provide care in a manner where their health and safety, and those of their patients were at risk.

“Nurses will no longer bear the burden of a poorly- resourced health care system.

“We implore the public to see this strike as a struggle for improved care for them and also as a fight to ensure that the healthcare sector is in a better position to serve them.

“All the requests we have made from the state government are to ensure that more nurses are not driven into frustration that can lead them to leaving the service,’’ he said.

According to him, the association’s state executive council meeting, held on December 29, 2021, assessed the numerous challenges of nurses and all unresolved issues before the government.

“The association has engaged the government on several occasions on these issues without the desired pace of outcome.

“In our estimation, the state government has yet to fully come to terms with how incredibly-challenging the situation in the health sector has been for our members, especially since 2020,’’ he said.

Awojide noted that the continued attrition of nurses to foreign countries had led to an acute shortage in the staffing of health facilities.

According to him, 496 nurses left the service of the State Health Service Commission from 2019 to 2021, with less than 15 per cent arising from statutory retirement.

“For context, the commission has only about 2,350 nurses.

“More than 200 nurses left the service of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital within the same period.

“Over 80 have left the Primary Healthcare Board from 2020 till date, thus leaving the healthcare with 700 nurses and midwives,’’ he said.

Awojide noted that the state government’s replacement-on-exit policy had been rendered ineffective by the inability to easily find replacements, adding that nurses were critical assets.

“Out of the 500 vacancies approved for recruitment by the governor for the health service commission recently, less than 300 applied, especially in a country with a 33.2 per cent unemployment rate,’’ he said.

The NANNM chairman noted that the mass exodus had adversely affected the quality of care, thus leading to increase in the workload and functional flexibility requirement on nurses without compensation.

According to him, members are falling sick and developing chronic illnesses.

“A reduced capacity in the health workforce means a reduced capacity to contain and fight new waves of pandemics and outbreaks.

“A poor retention rate only guarantees paralytic responses to new waves of pandemics within the foreseeable future,’’ he said.

Awojide noted that the association’s requests to the state government included: resolving shortage of nurses and midwives and retention of incentives to arrest the turnover rate.

Others, he said, were proper consolidation of CONHESS Salary Structure and improved working conditions.

Source: NAN

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The strike took effect from the midnight of  April 13, it said in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman of NANNM, Roseline Solarin, and the state NMA chairman, Dr Oladayo Ogunlaja.

It described the alleged recent kidnappings of health workers as “disheartening, repugnant and unacceptable.”

It added that  the state government’s approach of not negotiating with the alleged  kidnappers of the nurses had made them believe  that their lives and property were of no essence to the government.

It alleged that the state had not shown any commitment that could facilitate the early release of their members, hence, the decision to down tools.

“The recent kidnapping of health workers after rendering their services to the good citizens of Ogun  is so disheartening, repugnant and unacceptable.

“Recall that  Dr Oladunni Adetola and Mrs Bamgbose, a  nurse, were precisely abducted on the 7th of April, making it six days in incarceration.

“Also, another dental therapist working at the General Hospital, Ijebu-Igbo,  was abducted today on her way to work.

“In the light of these, there is immediate withdrawal of  services of our members from all institutions in Ogun  until the safety of our members  is guaranteed,” it said.

Source: NAN

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