The national president of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Comrade Kabiru Ado Sani, has expressed regret over recent developments in the tertiary health branches where almost every union election generates protests, petitions, accusations and counteraccusations.
Sani made the disclosure in his keynote address during the 47th regular meeting of the Tertiary Health Institutions National Consultative Forum, (THINCF) held in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.
The keynote topic for the conference was “The Way forward for Nigeria Healthcare System: Challenges and Opportunities, Tertiary Health Focus”.
Sani said regrettably, the national leadership’s interventions in such a chaotic situation through committees often reveal high-level compromise, blatant violation of the union’s constitution, and total ignorance of the system by both the members and organisers of the said elections.
He noted that periodic free and fair elections are one of the basic principles of true democracy, adding that MHWUN has raised the bar over the years in the community of trade unions.
Comrade Sani called on branch leaders to be mindful that elections are a period of accountability and not a time for fence mending. Rather than displaying unbridled desperation during elections, branch leaders should learn to win members’ confidence through quality service and representation.
He said that going forward, and to address the ugly development, the national leaders have developed a special interest in tertiary branch elections and will deploy machinery to ensure free, fair, and acceptable branch elections with the support and cooperation of all leaders.
The national president of MHWUN said that the Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, has served as a veritable instrument in pursuing the welfare of healthcare workers in the country.
He noted that currently, through persistent pressures from the leadership of JOHESU, some of the outstanding welfare issues are receiving attention from the federal government despite internal and external challenges, and they shall pursue them to a logical conclusion.
” I will not allow anyone to hide under the umbrella to undermine the interests of MHWUN.”
Comrade Sani said that the forum was created to articulate and advance issues that affect members of the Tertiary Health Institutions in the country, adding that its regular meetings are one of the avenues designed to actualise the statutory mandate.
He commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for his worker-friendly disposition since the assumption of office and for providing the enabling environment for labour unions to thrive within the context of decent industrial relations.
He urged the state governor to continue to sustain the principle of decent industrial relations built on equity, justice and respect for the rule of law, which had characterised his administration in the state.
Comrade Sani also called on the state government to pay serious attention to improving the general welfare of health workers in the State in order to motivate them to drive the government agenda on health coverage at the grassroots and equally curb the dangerous scourge of brain drain of health workers in the country.
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