Disaster looms for patients as Kaduna health workers vow to continue strike
BY IDIBIA GABRIEL
Primary healthcare (PHC) centres remain shut as meetings between the Kaduna State health workers union body and state government officials ended in deadlock.
This was disclosed by a Coalition of Civil Society Organization (CSOs), group leader who went round some health facilities in part of Kaduna zone
“I just returned from Zone 3, strike is still on, every PHC is under lock and key. Government had two meetings with the Associations last week. But could not resolve the issue’, CSO Co-Chairman, Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM) Comrade Isah Gidado”, has stated.
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National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwife (NANNM), Kaduna state, had declared indefinite strike to drive home some health workers unions demands including 30% balance of their 2009 countess based on 2015 agreement, and MoU entered into with the state government.
One of the union leaders, Comrade Ishaku Yakubu, had recently stated that “Our colleagues in Barau Diko who are 100% 2009 CONTESS, are also demanding for improvement. They’re demanding for 2019 CONTESS, so we’re in the strike together.
“Then there’s a hazard allowance of 2021 which has not been implemented in Kaduna state for Ministry of health but implemented in Barau Diko Teaching Hospital.
“So those in the ministry of health are also demanding that the hazard allowance be implemented for them.
“We also have some of our colleagues employed in April 2023, and were not paid until February 2024. So they have 8 months salary arrears. So we are also in solidarity with them for government to pay them.
“These are the reason for this strike. So KADMAM heard that we are on strike and decided to come and find out what’s the reasons for the strike, and if in any way they can be of help through advocacies.
“We’ve had a robust discussion with them (CSOs), and they’ve promised us to make advocacy to inform relevant stakeholders about the demands.
“They call on us to sympathies with members of the public to access these health services and pleaded with us if in any way we can consider our people in the community.
“We agreed with them and told them we’ll get back to our members who asked us to embarked on the strike, because we have demands, and if the demands are met today we’ll call off the strike today”, he added.
A union leader of the strike which began in October 2024, Comrade Ishaku Yakubu, recently disclosed that they’re ready to called off the strikes immediately it received any genuine and tangible commitment from Governor Uba Sani, to meet its demands in written against October ending.
