There’s too wide gap between JOHESU and doctors —Sokoto JOHESU chairman

Abubakar Shehu is the State Chairman of Nurses and Midwives Association in Sokoto State, also the state chairman of Joint Health Sector Unions, (JOHESU). In this interview with OLAKUNLE MORUF, he explains why the JOHESU members embarked on industrial action, among other issues.

How would you react to the fact that despite all the meetings  you had with the state government, your union still joined the strike?

To be honest I am not happy, you see ,when we talk  of strike  especially in  sensitive places like  hospitals, one  knows the consequences that will follow it. Honestly, I am not happy, but we tried to let the state  government understand that this problem is not an issue between the union and Sokoto State government, it is a national case. We have a union with vibrant leadership, and this union has organs and structures. We have the national body, the state body and the units. So, we tried  to make the state government to  understand that if it were a friction between it  and us, of course we could  come to terms. The state government has done everything humanly possible to let us continue our work but honestly,  I am not happy as well. When we go on strike, the common man is always affected. So,  we are not happy, it is just like when NUPENG, ASUU, ASUP,  PENGASSAN and others go on strike. We know what we go through, it is pathetic but sometimes some leaders in this country do not  understand workers’ plight until they go on strike. I personally believe that   we are supposed to have passed the  era of strike.

Your state union did not  join the strike at its commencement as directed by the national body. Why the delay? 

We could not start our strike exactly at the expiration of the ultimatum given by the national leadership because my union usually  celebrates the birth of the mother of nursing  profession, Florence Nightingale, who was born in the month of May and she is being  celebrated worldwide. Usually, we  celebrate  it in Abuja. So when the ultimatum was given by the national leadership, it coincided with the yearly celebration of the international nurses’ week. While we were in Abuja, there were series of complaints and observations from individual chairmen that we should not declare strike over  our respective  states while we were  in Abuja. So we decided to declare the strike in Abuja. We decided to allow the celebration in  Abuja  to end before joining the strike, so that people might not say we were callous by declaring a strike while we were making merry. That was what informed our decision not to commence the strike then.

Are your demands the same as that of  your national body or you have a peculiar demands at state level?

We have peculiar demands  in the state but that was not  the genesis of the strike. As a labour leader, day in day out, demands will continue to flow and you cannot say they must be met all at a  time. If the government meets some of the demands, of course, we would take  them and continue negotiations. Talking about  Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) in Sokoto State, some of our members were placed on this table but after three months, they were removed. As from then, they have been on HETISS and  throughout the time of previous government, we were  on negotiation which has not yielded any result. When the present government came onboard, we opened it  up again  and luckily, the government listened  to us and those members were brought back to CONHESS level. Back to your question, this thing we are agitating for is national  and it is going to affect every member of JOHESU, from the federal government down to the local government. Though there are some grievances that are only peculiar to our colleagues in the federal hospitals. Like issue of uniform allowance, it is peculiar to the people working in federal institutions. Like issue of promotions and arrears, it is  peculiar to our colleagues in Federal Hospitals. Similarly, the issue of skipping is peculiar to the Federal Health institutions, but the remaining grievances like the adjustment of CONHESS to one  hundred per cent, are our joint struggle. In the health sector we have two salary tables, we  have COMESS, which is only for doctors alone, and then we have CONHESS  which is for all health workers such as Laboratory Scientists,  Pharmacists, Nurses, Radiologists, and Radiographers among others.

So, this CONHESS was adjusted twice in 2010 and 2014. In 2014,  JOHESU confronted the Federal Government for upward review of  CONHESS, this it has not done and this made us to go on strike.After the strike,  government  responded and we opened up negotiations. They came to terms with JOHESU  and agreement was signed in November 2017, but  along the line, the Nigeria  Medical Association posed another threat that if government implemented the demand of JOHESU, they would resume their suspended strike. I think  that was what created fears in the government and it refused to  implement  our agreement with it and now JOHESU is aggrieved that  NMA is standing in its way. So, they decided to withdraw their services and allow the NMA  to continue, that is what gave birth to this strike. Even when the  demands were not met, JOHESU did not just jump to strike just like  that, they still gave government ultimatum and it expired on February 28, 2018 and still they gave another extension to 30th of  March 30 and nothing was done by government. This made  JOHESU to  write a special  letter to declare strike which commenced on April 17, 2018, with only federal health institutions.

The two parties later went into negotiations, but there was  no  positive outcome that was  why they directed states and all the local  governments to join the strike. Like I said, the issue of adjustment of  CONHESS is there, issue of point of entry is also. A medical officer when he  comes out of medical school, he is employed on grade Level 12, while  nurses will be employed on grade Level 8, Laboratory scientist will be  on grade Level 10 and pharmacist will be on grade Level 9. So they  think they can decide to bring divide and rule? All of us  should be on the same grade level because  a degree is  a degree.

So,  those who are coming from school of nursing start from grade Level  7, CONHESS 6, but if you have a degree you start on Level 8, but a  doctor starts on Level 12. We know there is disparity in the years of  training; they spend six years, when you add housemanship, it becomes seven years. In our case, we spend four years, when we go for NYSC,  and then we go for internship. So we say the gap is too much from the  point of entry. Then there is the issue of position, doctors have  dominated everybody in the health sector. We have two ministers in the  federal ministry of health, (senior and junior). Both of them are  doctors. We have Director, Medical Science  in the Federal Ministry of Health, he is a doctor. We have Director of Human Resources in the Federal Ministry of Health, he is a doctor. Commissioner of Health at state  level, he is a doctor. Director of Medical Services at state level is  doctor. Chief Medical Director of  hospital is a doctor. All the Head  of departments of the hospitals are doctors.

Is this your major demand?

It is just one of them, we want the Federal Government to put in place a  neutral person to be the minister or  commissioner, since there is no  existing law that says it is only a doctor that can hold this type  of position. Even the minister of health was on a programme on  television, they asked him a question whether there is a law that says  only a doctor can be a minister or a Chief Medical Director or a  Commissioner of Health. He answered that there is no existing law in that regard, that it is only a historic and traditional event.

We  agreed with him because there was a time, Humphrey Nwosu, a Laboratory scientist was a Minister and one  pharmacist also.  So, if there were  an  existing law, they would not allow that to happen.  About  issue of positions of Chief Medical Directors and Managing  Directors of hospitals , the law says somebody who is medically  qualified and not necessarily a medical doctor.

So if you say somebody  who is medically qualified, by our status you call a doctor a doctor,  a lab scientist is a lab scientist, you called a nurse a nurse,  pharmacist is pharmacist but in general terms, you called all of them  medical personnel. So,  if you say anybody that is medically qualified,  all of them are qualified. These are the issues. Though, there is another issue which bothers  on consultancy. We have consultants  in the  medical profession. When you go back to school, added with the years  of service you have in addition to your qualification, then you will  be addressed as  a consultant.

Now, JOHESU is saying if we have  consultant  among  the medical doctors, we should  have consultants in nursing, laboratory science, and  pharmacy. These professionals should be addressed as consultants in their own respective fields.  Since it is about qualification and years of  service, if you go to  other  countries like Ghana, South Africa and some other places, they have consultant nurses. Even some of the non governmental organisations we have in Nigeria, like WHO, UNICEF and others when they employ, they do give consultancy to nurses. It is in  your own profession that you are coming to become a consultant and not  in  other people’s  profession. But government is  still saying no to all  these things. So, we want Nigerians to know that these are the grievances that  JOHESU is having.

Who is to blame for  these disparities in the administrative  setting?

It is the government of course, because all of us work for the  government and the government is representing the populace. So,  by all means,  government has to be fair and just to all.  Government can do these through appointments,  the senior minister can be a doctor  while the junior minister may  be a  pharmacist, the permanent secretary may be a laboratory scientist  and if government cannot be fair to all, let it  bring  neutral  persons  to head the ministries.

There is a friction in the health sector now, especially, between the NMA and JOHESU. Are you not scared that you may play into the hand of  government by bringing in someone unprofessional to head the sector?

We don’t mind, as long as he or she is going to be fair and just to every professional, we would not mind. If you go to other countries,  most of the ministers of health are not even health workers. When you  are appointed and take the  oath of office, you are governing by the rules and  regulation, as long as you are not going to be lopsided or biased but  treat every profession equally. We are not saying if you give a doctor  one hundred thousand naira, you must give a nurse, lab scientist or  pharmacist the same. That is not what we are saying. What we are  saying is  that there must be equity and fairness. If you give a doctor one  hundred thousand naira, give a pharmacist or a lab scientist or  seventy or eighty thousand naira. That is our demand; I am not a  medical doctor and can never collect a doctor’s  salary. The law will not  even allow me.

Now that the NMA is against your demands, what is your union’s reaction to their threat against your request?

The painful thing is when you fight for your own right and you ask me  not to do same for myself, it is very painful and disheartening. I don’t know  what the country is turning into. We are  not happy, because NMA has  no constitutional right to negotiate salary on behalf of  other bodies. They  only have constitutional  right to negotiate on behalf of their members

If I were NMA, I would not have put any threat against  JOHESU’s agitation because I know  there is no way, even  if the present minister were not a  doctor,  that  government could give equal pay to JOHESU and  doctors. When you go to other countries like United  States, they don’t care what your qualification is before you are  engaged and paid.  The number of hours you put into service will  determine your pay. If you work for eight hours as doctor and a common  ward servant works  for 10 or 24 hours, he will earn more than you doctor, it  is all about your input at work unlike here  in Nigeria. We are not  agitating that we must have equal pay with doctors that is  not what  we are saying. A young doctor that just finish you in medical school will  join the profession at Level 12, while a nurse that finish in  university and  joined the profession will start on level 8, by the time this nurse moves to level 9, the doctor  would have moved  to Level 13, by the nurse moves  to Level 10, the doctor is already on Level 14, by the time the nurse moves to Level 11, the doctor will be on level 15, when he gets to Level 12 which  is the entry point of a doctor, this doctor is already in Level 16. Now, tell me how their salary will be the same.  Obviously,we are not happy.

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The National Industrial Court ruled that JOHESU should resume and go back to negotiation table with government, as a leader, what do you think should be an acceptable offer for the union?

This is the court that intervenes in trade dispute in the country. I would not like to make much comment, concerning the recent ruling. But what baffled me was the NMA that went to court to secure an  order. Knowing fully well  that they are not even a trade union body and they have been going on strike and this national industrial court is aware. You see, we have labour laws and acts drawn from the constitution. That constitution recognises the existence of Nigeria Labour Congress. It categorically states that for you to exist as a trade union, you must be an affiliate of a labour congress, but NMA is not an affiliate of NLC. They are on their own and still negotiate salary, they  bargain and go on strike. The national industrial court  has  been silent on this. I don’t know why they are now directing a legalised, well recognised and legitimate labour organisation to suspend its strike and resume negotiations within 24 hours. It is  a directive and not an appeal. The constitution says you can engage in dispute, you can engage in negotiation and bargain as long as your right is infringed upon.

Do you foresee your union obeying the court decision?

I have not kept in touch with them but certainly I don’t think they will succumb. We have many cases against the federal government in the said court that we have won but the federal government is  yet to implement those judgements.