Akwa Ibom NMA Gives 21-day Strike Notice Over Poor Welfare

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Akwa Ibom State chapter, has drawn the battle line with the management of the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), threatening to call out its aggrieved members on strike over sundry issues bothering on emoluments and welfare.

Addressing journalists after an emergency general meeting of the association at Doctors’ Mess, Udoudoma Avenue, Uyo, yesterday, the chairman, Dr Aniekan Peter, explained that they resolved to embark on strike as a last resort after several efforts to reach an agreement on their demands with the management of UNIUYO, led by the vice chancellor (VC), Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, failed.

A communique at the end of the meeting signed by the chairman, Dr. Peter, and the assistant secretary, Dr. Unyime Ndoh, expressed dismay at the alleged insensitive disposition to the core issues of health services and the welfare of practitioners, noting that such an attitude had led to members seeking greener pastures elsewhere including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.

He listed some of the issues in dispute, explaining that “some medical doctors who are university lecturers are not being migrated to Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) in line with the approval of the University of Uyo Governing Council,” lamenting that “the computed arrears have not been paid since 2016 as done in other universities that migrated medical doctors to CONMESS.”

“There is grossly inadequate medical lecturers and medical officers at the Health Centre working in the University. This has caused immense stress and excess and unnecessary workload on our members.

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“There is a protracted delay in the promotion of some medical lecturers with concurrent loss of remuneration especially at this time of hardship in the country and mass exodus of medical doctors.

“Medical lecturers are still being owed three months and a half salary, which was withheld during the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike of 2022. Congress noted that management contributed to the non-payment of medical lecturers by refusing to sign letters to the minister as requested, even as other medical schools had been paid,” they said.

Consequently, the state NMA has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the UNIUYO management within which to “migrate all medical doctors who are lecturers to CONMESS, in line with the approval of the University of Uyo Governing Council, with immediate payment of arrears, as applicable in some other federal Universities in Nigeria.”

Other demands included that “the University management should, as a matter of urgent necessity, employ lecturers in Medical programmes in the University as well as medical doctors in the University of Uyo Health Centre.

“The immediate promotion of due Medical lecturers in the University without further delay with payment of promotion arrears to all medical lecturers. The immediate payment of outstanding three and a half month salaries to medical lecturers.”