Nurses Demand Justice, Fairness From Incoming Health Minister

The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) FCT council has urged the incoming health minister to address the issues of justice and fairness within the sector.

At the thanksgiving event at ECWA Church, Wuse II over the weekend as part of the activities to mark its Nurses Week with the theme “Our Nurses, Our Future,” the chairman of NANNM-FCT, Deborah Yusuf, emphasised the need for justice, equity, and fairness in the health sector.

While congratulating whoever emerges as the incoming minister, she stated, “What we need in the health sector is justice, equity, and fairness. For a very long time, we nurses have been relegated to the background. We urge the incoming minister to act fairly in whatever they undertake.

“As a matter of urgency, the incoming minister should engage with us, the representatives of nurses and midwives, to explore ways of encouraging our nurses to remain in the country.”

Yusuf thanked all Nigerians for their support, stating that they are committed to serving humanity. However, she acknowledged the challenges they face, including the ‘Japa’ syndrome, where many nurses are leaving the country.

She appealed to the federal government to bolster support for nurses to prevent the urge to seek employment abroad. One of the ways to achieve this, she emphasised, is to review nurses’ poor remuneration.

“Our salaries have not been revised for many years. We call on the incoming minister to rectify this. Our allowances, shift duty, uniforms, and hazard allowances have stagnated. We urge the minister to review them so that our nurses can be motivated to stay,” she added.

On the essence of Nurses Week, she highlighted their enduring commitment to patient care despite being underappreciated.

 She said, “We began with Juma’at prayers, with our Muslim sisters in the mosque and us in the churches, thanking God for sustaining us.”