Nurses In Ogun Protest Poor Work Conditions

Posted by Nwa Diokpa Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Nurses under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, have protested against the management of the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta, Ogun State concerning their terrible working conditions.

The health workers, in the protest on Wednesday, stated that their members collapsed on duties due to the work overload and due to an unconducive work environment.

The nurses also protested against a shortage of manpower and an alleged exclusion from the 2023 promotion done by the institution.

During their peaceful procession on the hospital premises, they c stated that stiffer actions would be done if nothing was done to alleviate their numerous sufferings.

The aggrieved workers, singing solidarity songs, brandished placards bearing different messages such as “Stop Selective Promotion,” “Nurses Workload is Enough for Promotion,” and “Nurses’ Lives Matter,” among others.

Speaking for the protesters, the chairman of the FMC Abeokuta chapter of NANNM, Olufimilola Adekunle, stated that more than 200 nurses in the hospital have relocated abroad.

According to her, less than 300 nurses are left in the institution to take charge of hundreds of patients coming the hospital daily.

Adekunle said: “It is really tough to survive; we had to collapse three units together. We are going to merge some wards together; that is what we are planning to do immediately after this protest because we cannot bear it any longer.

“We want the government to come to our aid; we are working and we need to be paid for what we do. All our rights should be given to us. Our next action is to down tools. We are going to write them and stop working because, in the past months, we have seen our nurses collapsing.

“In the past two months, we lost two nurses. Our lives are important. The workload contributed to the deaths and our nurses collapsing on duty. The only thing we enjoy from the management is this promotion; we don’t benefit from them.”