Union urges Tinubu to appoint health minister with administrative skills

The Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals urged President Bola Tinubu to nominate a seasoned administrator as health minister.

The medical profession opposed consecutive governments favouring medical officers, arguing that the doctors picked during the previous two decades were inadequate.

In an exclusive interview at the eighth national health professionals conference in Abuja, NUAHP president Dr. Obinna Ogbonna made the call.

Except for economist Prof. Eyitayo Lambo, no medical minister has succeeded in health, the dietician said.

He said, “We are expecting Mr. President to see how there is going to be a rearrangement of the Federal Ministry of Health as we are having issues there.” Our past ministers were incompetent because they solely considered their personal interests. Our protests are usually ignored, and other healthcare experts are marginalised. That caused the two-week strike.

We expect industry upheaval and reengineering. Put the right people in control. We also recommend that professionals avoid administrations. No administration is required. No medical professionals for the health minister No one—dieticians, chemists, or nurses—should do it.

Let’s have skilled, impartial administrators like Eyitayo Lambo. Lambo, an economist? We liked him since he was objective and hardworking. I can certify that President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 2003–2009 administration had few strikes. We expect these indices. We need synergy to work together. He stated that every health worker is vital.

The dietician, who is also an auditor for the Trade Union Congress, also commented on last week’s salary dispute between doctors and JOHESU, calling it “giving a dog a dirty name to hang it.”
JOHESU has adjusted the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, which sets medical and dental compensation, since 2014.

In answer to JOHESU’s appeal, the Federal Ministry of Health wrote on April 3, 2023, that CONMESS and CONHESS have had a salary gap since 2014.

The Nigerian Medical Association slammed the move, saying modifying CONHESS could cause a catastrophic healthcare catastrophe.

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On June 7, 2023, the NMA wrote to the permanent secretary that CONHESS would hurt the health sector.

“NMA shall not sit idly by and tolerate anyone who diminishes our remuneration by messing with relativity,” the statement added.

Ogbonna, the National Vice Chairman of the Joint Health Sector Union, said doctors must learn to work well with nurses, chemists, lab scientists, and others.

He also chastised the NMA for believing that JOHESU sought the same pay scale as doctors.

That’s untrue. Healthcare professionals cannot seek the same pay. They simply mislead the ignorant. The input points covered relativity. Optometrists, physiotherapists, and chemists also train for six years, like doctors. House officers start in Grade 10. He enters Grade 12 following housemanship and service.

The new CONMESS compensation scale is an example. In 2014, we began Nine-and-a-half years have passed. Theirs has had three or four revisions. The fourth dispersed everything. They’ll say they’re broke and that doing so will distort relativity. Not true. Introduction into service resolved relativity.

Please keep yelling foul. Sheriff Tinubu arrived recently. We talked to the president. He’s investigating. We replied to last week’s petty wage difference announcement, so we know it won’t be business as usual. We must inform the people that discrimination in our field and nation is wrong. The ILO prohibits it. We can grasp medicine despite studying other sciences. He stated that everyone can be God’s interest.