Group appeals to FG, JOHESU to end health workers’ strike

The Congress of Nigeria Youth (CONYO) has appealed to the Federal Government and the leadership of the health workers under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) to shed their egos and reach a consensus in suspending the ongoing strike in the interest of Nigerians (The less privilege).

The Southwest Coordinator, Ambassador Paul Ogunkoya, made the appeal to journalists in a statement signed by Amb Taiwo Fayose, Director Press Secretary of the Congress on Monday in Abuja.

It’s on record that JOHESU began an indefinite strike on April 7, affecting all its members in the Federal Health institutions; while their state counterparts joined the industrial action on Wednesday, May 9 – an action that has led to the gradually and total breakdown of the health sector framework nationwide.

Saying the prolonged strike is a bad precedent in the country’s health development. Due to this strike many lives will be lost, while many resorts to self-medication or hand over their fate to traditional medical practitioners, still some fall into the hands of fraudsters acting as spiritualists.

A scenario like this played out in November 2014. Many patients suffered the consequences including the late Prof Akang of UCH, the late Veronica Ezugwu from Enugu State and the victims of a terrorist attack in Adamawa.

In comity of nations, when the mortality and morbidity rates were rolled out, Nigeria was ranked 179 out of the 183 nations and that was even when the use of full complement of all the staff in the health sector, but now that 95 per cent of the workforce have withdrawn services, what will be the fate of Nigeria?

The indices will further nosedive and we will further depreciate in the ranking and it’s not the best for our health system.

We call on members of JOHESU to earnestly resume work as we believe that serious efforts are being made to meet their grievances, such as the payment of shortfalls of salaries, promotion arrears, repatriation allowances, non-implementation of court judgments. among others.

It’s our humble appeal that the joint health workers and the federal government should re-engage in negotiations so as to resolve the lingering health crisis that has shut down most university of teaching hospitals in the country to prevent unnecessary hardship and death of innocent citizens in the hospitals.