- We’ve Recorded 100 Per cent Compliance – Delta NANNM
- Medical Services Paralysed At FMC, Asaba
- Resident Doctors Sympathise With Nurses
WITH the suspension of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM’s nationwide warning strike yesterday, The Pointer crew went out to sample the opinion of the State’s Chairman of the Association, Comrade Philomena Onokpuvie, and other stakeholders on the effects of the strike on health institutions and patients. Below is what they have to say.
We Recorded 100 Per cent Compliance – Delta NANNM Chairman
Reacting to the nationwide warning strike action embarked upon by the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), and its suspension, the Delta State Chairman of the Association, Comrade Mrs. Philomena Onokpuvie, who spoke with EDNA EMENI, said the level of compliance of Nurses in the state was 100 per cent.
This, she said, was in keeping with the national body of the Association’s directive to ensure that compliance is total across all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“At the state’s Association level, I’m happy that we complied with the directive. That is to say, we did the needful. Much as we were in sympathy with the affected patients, the demands of Nurses in the country are genuine and are for the overall good/benefit of the Nurses, the patients and the health sector in the country.
“The strike was successful to the extent that it denied all government-owned hospitals in the state the services of Nurses, thus the entire health system in the state was affected. This goes to show the importance of Nurses and the vital services they render in the health sector. As a matter of fact, Nurses form over 65 per cent of the workforce in the country’s health sector.
While disclosing that the mandate from the national body of the Association to states was to ensure the vacation of Nurses from all government hospitals throughout the anticipated seven-day period of the warning strike, Comrade Philomena Onokpuvie said that, if at the expiration of the seven- day warning strike, their demands were not met, the Association would meet again to deliberate on the next line of action.
However, she said, she was optimistic that the government would do the needful and listen to the Nurses’ demands, given the strategic and sensitive role they play in the nation’s health sector.
While noting that the warning stories paralysed health services in government hospitals, Comrade Onokpuvie expressed sadness that, at the end of the day, the government was going to be losing huge revenue that would have been generated by the services from its hospitals.
She listed the demands of the Nurses to include: Gazetting of the Nurses Scheme of Service, approved by the National Council on Establishment (NCE) in 2016 in Minna, Niger State; implementation of the National Industrial Court judgement of January 27, 2012; upward review of professional allowances for Nurses and Midwives; employment of Nursing Personals and adequate provisions of healthcare facilities/equipment; creation of Department of Nursing in the Federal Ministry of Health and inclusion of Nurses in the Leadership of Healthcare policy making bodies.
Others, she said, are: A fair representation by the Association on the board of membership of the FMOH&S, centralisation of internship, posting for graduate nurses, and consultancy for nurses and Midwives.
Medical Services Paralysed at FMC, Asaba
BY PATRICK MGBODO
SHE pranced frantically in front of the maternity ward of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba. Rushing to a group of about three men standing at the corner of the concrete canopy that cased the entrance of the building, she enquired to know who was a doctor among them. From the gates to the Accident and Emergency Ward and then to the administrative block, the terror of solemnity reigned in the premises.
“Please, I am in labour’’ she said in tears, stamping one foot after the other repeatedly as if standing on hot coals. Ordinarily, she would have been swarmed by a colony of nurses and midwives like workers tending to the queen in a beehive. But in this instance, she would remember this encounter as an experience least desired by an expectant mother.
But she was not alone in this hapless situation. Across public hospitals in the country, patients endured their pains while doctors further strained their muscles, following the seven-day warning strike by the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) for the first time in over two decades.
Speaking with The Pointer, the chairman of NANNM (FMC Asaba), Comrade Sam Adejoh, said that a monitoring team of the association moved around all federal, state and local government hospitals to ensure absolute compliance in their struggles for better welfare.
‘’For us, nursing is a call, and we see our patients as our major priority. This is why we are often reluctant to down tools or cry when we are being marginalised. But for a long time, the nurses decided to endure even when we are not treated well and marginalised by the Federal Government.
“Right now, the nurses are the least paid in the health system. We have been calling the federal government, but they didn’t even deem it necessary to talk with us. At this point, we decided to react because even if a goat does not bite, there is an extent to which you would provoke it, and it would bite you. This is exactly what we are doing.
“The first thing we are even asking is our remuneration. The payment for nurses in this country is very poor. What I receive is not even sufficient to cater to my four children. We are poorly paid, and we are there 24/7. The federal government does not care about us. We had earlier given them a 15-day ultimatum, and the federal government failed to call us for talks until the peak hour, when we had already mobilised to proceed on strike, which was when they offered peanuts on the table. Because of this, we walked out of the meeting.
“Now, we have given them a seven-day ultimatum, and the national body has given them nine areas to address out of our myriad problems. Recently, the President splashed hundreds of millions on the Super Falcons, but the government has failed to look at the health sector, particularly the welfare of the nurses who make up over 70 per cent of health personnel.
“We have also asked for an increment in our allowances. Our allowances are the least. We have also asked for the centralisation of our interns because right now, our interns are being cheated, as people are extorting them as they are made to give money to be posted to the different hospitals. We want the Department of Nursing to be established at the Federal Ministry of Health, as passed by the National Industrial Court in 2016. Up till today, they have refused to create that department.
“We also asked them to gazette our scheme of service. As it stands today, the nursing profession is the only profession where anybody will employ you and place you anywhere they feel like. This is because the scheme of service has never been gazetted. We have been asking them to gazette it since 2016, and they keep saying the federal government has not made funds available. We even volunteered as an association to give them money to gazette it, but they refused. So, we are insisting that it must be gazetted now.
‘’We have been quiet all this time because of our patients. Now, our patients are suffering, and the federal government is not. Honestly, it hurts us as we see our patients running up and down and crying. Now, the doctor makes the prescriptions and leaves, but the nurses stay to ensure holistic care of the patient. It is the nurse who ensures that the correct dosage of the prescription is administered. But for how long should we be neglected? This is why many nurses now want to travel outside this country. We apologise to all our patients and ask for forgiveness. This is not targeted at them’’ he said.
All through the strike period that the nurses were away, the doctors appeared stranded like a man whose wife had stayed too long in the market and had not returned before them’’ he said.
All through the strike period that the nurses were away, the doctors appeared stranded like a man whose wife had stayed too long in the market and had not returned before the chickens roost.
One of the doctors who spoke to The Pointer, Kingsley Onwuka, narrated their ordeal. “With the help of nurses, the work used to be a lot easier for us, but when they went on strike, there was nobody there to triage when patients came. Nobody was happy about the situation.
He said, “No nurse was on duty, and the doctors tried to patch up. Patients were discharged in large numbers; almost 80 per cent of the patients were discharged, and some of them were referred to private hospitals. It was not that doctors didn’t care, but we also needed to be in good health to be able to attend to the patients’’.
Mass Discharge of Patients At Asaba Specialist Hospital —CMD
The situation was not different at the Asaba Specialist Hospital (ASH), where many patients were also discharged in response to the strike action by the nurses.
Speaking to The Pointer, the Chief Medical Director, Dr Peace Ighosewe, said some of the patients were referred elsewhere, while some were managed by the doctors.
While lamenting that the situation was worrisome, she expressed confidence that the Delta State Government would abide by any accord reached at the federal level, as it had always been the first to implement such agreements in the past.
Doctor Sympathises With Nurses In Oghara
Meanwhile, the immediate past President of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, Comrade Harrison Adja, sympathised with the nurses, even as he called on the government to pay more attention to the health sector.
In solidarity with the Nurses and Midwives Association, he said, ‘’The nurses are not asking for too much. One of the major problems is that the government (political class) does not use these public hospitals. If they do not use the hospitals, how will they know what is happening there? You cannot care for a patient when you require care because you will be thinking of how to get greener pastures. This is why everybody is moving out of the country. So, the government should make the hospitals work.
“In 2014, a bag of rice was between N7,000 and N8,000 while the Minimum Wage was about N18,000. But in 2025, the Minimum Wage is N70,000 while a bag of rice is selling for almost N100,000. This means that in 2014, people were receiving more since they could buy a bag of rice; now, the Minimum Wage cannot buy a bag of rice. If the government wants this country to work, they must take all workers seriously’’ Dr Adja said.
Effects Of Strike, Far-reaching —Dr Oge
BY JUMAI NWACHUKWU
ALSO, Dr. Oge Nwabueze Faith of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, expressed deep concern over the strike, describing its impact on hospital operations as both serious and far-reaching.
According to her, the strike significantly disrupted the hospital’s ability to deliver effective healthcare services, leaving many patients in vulnerable conditions.
She explained that, in response to the strike, all patients who were previously admitted to FMC Asaba were discharged. The decision, she noted, became necessary because, although doctors may still be available to see patients briefly, there were no supporting healthcare personnel, such as nurses, to provide continued care or follow-up treatment.
She lamented the effect of this gap on both patients and doctors, adding that it is disheartening for medical professionals to attend to patients without the assurance that they will receive full care throughout their recovery. She stressed that such disruptions compromise the quality of healthcare delivery, delay treatment outcomes, and can worsen the condition of patients who require continuous monitoring and support.
She appealed to relevant authorities to expedite dialogue with striking nurses and ensure a speedy resolution to the crisis so that operations can fulfil their mandate of saving lives and providing critical health services to the public.
Strike Takes Toll In Agbor
At Agbor, the administrative headquarters of Ika South Local Government Area, our correspondent who visited the Central Hospital in the town observed that the strike took its toll on the operations of the hospital.
Speaking to the Zonal Coordinator, Mr Ijedima Ndidi, he said the Nurses’ strike had led to doctors taking charge.
“The effect of the warning strike embarked upon by Nurses and Midwives affected the operations of the hospital, but it did not stop our daily operations because doctors have a mandate to save lives.”
A visit to the Wards in the hospital revealed skeletal services rendered by some doctors.
However, some relatives of patients in the hospital expressed displeasure over the strike but commended the hospital for not shutting down completely.
Meanwhile, a visit to some private clinics in Agbor revealed that the impact of the strike was not too felt as their day-to-day operations were sustained.
Speaking with Dr. Johnbull, the CEO of J. B. Clinic, Agbor, he revealed that the patients in his clinic were not a fallout of the strike.
Also, a visit to one of the major private hospitals in Agbor, Nkeonye Clinic and Maternity Home, revealed that there was no influx of patients from government hospitals due to the strike.
According to the nurse on duty, the clinic operated normally. She said the doctor was out of the clinic for an engagement after administering drugs and injections to patients.
Govt Hospitals Paralized, Private Clinics Overwhelmed In Rivers
BY OGORAMAKA AMOS
In Port-Harcourt, capital of Rivers State, hospitals, particularly public ones, were practically crippled by the nurses’ strike.
With government nurses withdrawing their services, many private hospitals were overwhelmed by a sudden influx of patients. Those who couldn’t afford private care were stranded.
While some nurses chose to remain at their duty posts out of professional commitment or moral duty, the cracks in the healthcare system were widened, and the nurses on the frontline did not hold back their emotions.
A senior nurse, Blessing Ogbonda, who spoke to our correspondent at a privately owned clinic in the D-Line axis of Port Harcourt, said the impact of the strike was overwhelming and eye-opening.
“It was Overwhelming. We saw a huge number of walk-in patients, especially those who would have gone to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital or Braithwaite Memorial Hospital.
Every day felt like an emergency. A woman in labour was rushed to us from a government hospital. We barely had space, but we couldn’t turn her back.”
“We just managed our facilities here, but it was not enough. People had to be treated and attended to; there was no space to even admit people, and we were not much.”
People who came into the hospital complained of not being attended to at the Government Hospitals. The government should just reach an agreement with the nurses, so that the patients don’t suffer like this”
Another, Victory Obi, a nurse at a small but busy private hospital on Rumigbo Road in Port Harcourt, talked to our correspondent while preparing drips for two new patients who arrived from a government hospital.
“We’re only a 14-bed facility, so we’ve had to improvise beds and even treated some patients on benches,” she said.
Victoria added that she supported the strike and understood why her colleagues in the public sector had to take that step. But she admitted that smaller clinics like hers were at the breaking point.
“We don’t have enough hands. Most of our nurses had to sleep in the hospital just to keep up. Everyone was tired physically. But we didn’t shut our doors because people were desperate for care.”
At another private maternity centre in Rumuokoro, Nurse Chinwe Nlewem said, supplies were dwindling fast. “We had exhausted our stock of gloves twice. Some drugs were out of stock, too. We had to buy emergency supplies just to keep going. Patients didn’t realise we were under strain too.”
Our correspondent observed a scene at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Wards that should have been bustling with nurses and caregivers were quiet, with no one to attend to patients.
A doctor who spoke to our correspondent anonymously said,
“The doctors were in a very tight corner during the strike, and patients kept coming, although some pulled out because there were no nurses on the ground.
“The doctors couldn’t have been everywhere. I honestly prayed that everything was resolved quickly so that the nurses could resume”
Dr Nwaeze Tochukwu, who works at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, said, “There was a long queue of patients. We had some patients who collapsed while waiting in line. Relatives pulled their loved ones from the hospital.”
He also said that the attention given to the health sector was really poor. “We medical practitioners are not being treated right. The government doesn’t value the health sector; otherwise, they wouldn’t have allowed the situation to get bad; human lives were at stake”
He appealed to the government to come to an agreement with the Nurses and also implement their demands.
On her part, a Nurse, Anietie Bassey, expressed deep frustration over the neglect that pushed her union to strike.
“Our salaries can’t feed our families. We buy our uniforms, pay for professional development from our pockets, and work long hours with little appreciation. This strike is not just about money—it’s about dignity.
“Nurses are the backbone of any hospital. When we step away, everything collapses.”
Anietie, like others, felt torn between her oath to care and the need to demand change. “Nobody wants patients to suffer. But if we don’t speak up now, the system will keep using and abandoning us. The worst part is watching patients suffer for a problem we didn’t create.”
