* Accuses health sector union of blackmailing FG
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has insisted that there was no basis for the members of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) to demand for the same salary as medical doctors.
It stressed that such demand was not in line with the standard practice worldwide.
The National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Aniekeme Uwah stated this in a statement at the weekend.
JOHESU had been pushing for salary adjustment for its members. It recently appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to include the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) in the 2022 budget before passage threatening that any attempt to do otherwise would be met with stiff resistance.
However, the NMA accused JOHESU’s leadership of attempting to blackmail the Director of Hospital Services of the Federal Ministry of Health over welfare issues affecting her members.
In its reaction to the threat by JOHESU leadership that they would no longer take part in negotiations with the federal government if doctors were involved, NMA said that it has no objection to it as far as facts and international standard were presented and applied.
NMA said JOHESU’s position which was contained in a letter with reference No. HQ/JOHESU/ADM/FMoH/VOL.IIT/045 dated 16th December, 2021, and signed by the Acting National Secretary of JOHESU, Matthew Ajorutu was uncalled for.
The doctors said the leadership of JOHESU was becoming increasingly, “physicianphobic” and “dysociopath.”
NMA stressed that JOHESU must learn to trust and accept international best practices on remuneration.
“JOHESU is free to negotiate with anybody. Physicians are not afraid of this provided that the facts and international standard are presented and applied,” it added.
In the statement, the NMA said it was worthy to note that doctors in administrative positions had worked hard to create a healthy balance in welfarism between physicians and allied health orofessionals in the Health Sector.
It said in an attempt to placate JOHESU, the doctors had bent backwards by recommending relativity in emoluments below what is obtainable for physicians internationally to the disenchantment of members of the NMA.
The NMA also accused JOHESU leadership of insatiable appetite for spreading misinformation and disinformation,
“It is no surprise therefore that JOHESU threw caution to the winds once more by attempting to emotionally blackmail the Director of Hospital Services (DHS) FMOH on welfare issues affecting her members. This is a well-known strategy of JOHESU after failing in discussions oiled in hard evidence,” the NMA further stated.
“There is no basis for JOHESU to ask for the same salary as for Medical Doctors as this is not the standard practice worldwide. JOHESU knows that there is a relativity agreement between the Federal Government and the NMA on CONHESS and CONMESS.
“If the office of the DHS, FMOH drew the attention of the federal government to the extant agreement on call duty allowance as signed in 2001 and basic salary as corrected and signed in 2014, she is only stating the obvious facts and should be commended for her due diligence.
“The federal government, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment (FMOLE) know the implications of breaching the agreement on relativity.
“As a reminder, the NMA is not opposed to any salary increase, adjustment or variation for JOHESU and her members provided that such action and identical values are applied to CONMESS to sustain the agreement with NMA.
“Furthermore, the current DHS and her staff are among the most meek and considerate officers in the Federal Ministry of Health. Therefore, if JOHESU cannot trust and work with her, then it can’t work with anyone in the entire Civil Service of the Federation.
“We believe she has resisted the “Nigerian factor” hence this vituperation by JOHESU because that is JOHESU’s stock in trade,” the NMA explained.
It noted that if anyone was to be unhappy, it should be the physicians who, according to the statement, were being shortchanged by the deliberate refusal of the federal government to apply internationally accepted relativity in the remuneration of health workers in Nigeria.
The NMA said by making insinuation not to enter into negotiation with the federal government if doctors were involved, JOHESU implied that such decisions would be extended to the Ministers of Health and that of Labour and Employment because they are also physicians.
