Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN has lamented that governors of 12 states in Nigeria are allegedly maltreating their members by owing them several years of salary arrears, and by also failing to standardise their payments .
The medical body added that most terrifying had been that those governors have failed to implement the N30,000 new minimum wage that has become a law in the country, thereby subjecting members to harrowing hardship and neglect.
The MHWUN National Vice President, Femi Adebisi, stated this in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, at the weekend during the 2022 International Youth Day organised by the South-west leadership of the union with the theme: ‘Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages’.
Emphasising the imperative of state governors making the welfare of health workers a premium priority, Adebisi posited that this remains the panacea to the recurrent brain-drain crippling the health sector in the country.
Adebisi, who, however, veiled the identities of the affected states, said the union would continue to engage the governors of the states towards resolving the issue in the best interest of the members who he said were sacrificing for the good of the citizens.
He said: “I think the federal government is not doing badly in terms of welfare of health workers, but some states which I will not want to mention here owe health and medical workers. As we speak, we still have states in this country that have not implemented the N30,000 minimum wage, let alone the welfare of health workers.
“As we speak, we have nothing less than 12 states that owe health workers their entitlements. We are engaging them as a union and we are hoping the governors and everyone concern will do the needful soon.”
He revealed that as a way of giving back to the society and ending medical tourism in the country, the union has built a state-of-the-art specialist hospital in Abuja, adding that the medical facility would be inaugurated before of the year.
Meanwhile, the South-west Youth Coordinator of MHWUN, Hannah Ademola, also said there was need for the international community and the governments to celebrate the potential of youths towards the growth of the society.
She added that the union being a foremost trade union of health workers on the continent would continue to do everything possible in a bid to encourage young health workers and give them sense of belonging to safeguard the future of the Nigerian health sector.
“Let me seize this noble opportunity to reach out to the Nigerian Government and private organisations in the country to look more into matters that concern the youths. We have to be a country that protect our youths and does not kill them,” Ademola said.
