Health workers strike across Nigeria

Health services are to be paralysed indefinitely in public institutions throughout the country as the workers have been ordered to down tools from today.


The Joint Health Sectors Unions (JOHASU) gave the directive Tuesday following the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum given to the government on August 1 and the failure of the Minister of Labour or his representative to turn up for a meeting scheduled for Monday to amicably resolve the issues in dispute.


This information was contained in a statement made available to journalists Tuesday in Abuja and signed by the National President and Secretary-General, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Ayuba Wabba and Marcus Omokhuale respectively, their counterparts in the National Association of Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), A.A. Adeniji and W.G. Yusuf-Badmus; Nigerian Union of Pharmacists, Medical Technologists and Professions Allied to Medicine (NUPMTPAM), Faniran Olukayode and M.O. Akinade.


The other signatories are Mrs Ladi Iliya and Peters Adeyemi of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and acting President and General Secretary of Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals. Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), B. Akinola and M.O. Akinade respectively.


The associations said the industrial action, which is to affect federal tertiary health institutions from today, will be joined by workers in states and local government health institutions from midnight on 28 August.
“While we sincerely apologise for the inconveniences this action may cause Nigerian citizens, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, should be held responsible,” they said.


The issues for which the workers are agitating are non-skipping of salary grade level CONHESS 10; the National Health Bill; consultancyand specialist allowances as well as Call/shift duty and other professional allowances.
However, after 13 months of adjudication, the National Industrial Court ruled on July 22, that the skipping of CONHESS 10 was legal and that the purported circular by the Ministry of Health and Head of Service of the Federation stopping it was illegal, null and void and of no effect.


JOHESU argued that the import of the ruling was that members would continue to skip CONHESS 10; that those earlier appointed as consultants would continue to enjoy the status along with other benefits and that the withdrawal of their letters of appointment was irregular.




Further, the group contended that shift duty, administrative non-clinical and call duty allowances should remain as they are but that negotiation should commence towards a review of the allowances.
“Also, it was held by the court that issues already agreed upon are accrued rights and should be implemented without delay in line with collective bargaining agreement,” they said.

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Wild Fusion harnessing the power of the internet to revolutionize business in Nigeria

In 2008, Abasiama Idaresit returned to Nigeria, after studying for a degree in Information Systems & Management at the London School of Economics. He had one thing in mind: to see how the Internet could help transform the business landscape in Nigeria. That, in fact, was the focus of his dissertation -- the impact of technology on small businesses.

"I've always loved the Internet; wanted to see it change a lot of things in Africa -- marketing, operations..." he tells me, at his office in Lagos.

He started peddling his dreams. Without success. "For the first eight months I didn't make a dime," he recalls. "People literally chased me out of their offices."

By Internet-age standards in Nigeria those were early days. Facebook was just picking up, and no one had heard of Twitter; Internet advertising was almost unheard of at that time.

But Abas kept at his proselytising.

Baby M was a small business that catered to the needs of new mothers and their babies. It operated out of one store in Ikoyi, Lagos, near where Abas lived, and also had a network of sales agents who combed the streets of Lagos in search of customers. Monthly revenues were in the region of one thousand dollars.

Abas tried to convince Baby M's proprietor to give him a chance to show how the Internet could help her advertise cheaply and find new customers. At first she wasn't very keen. Until Abas offered a money-back guarantee in the event that he failed to fulfil his promise.

With nothing to lose, she gave him N40,000 (approx $250) -- his debut earning as an internet marketing consultant.

The results were phenomenal. Within three months, says Abas, Baby M's revenues grew from $1,000 a month to $100,000 a month, immediately overwhelming her capacity to fulfil orders.

That feat attracted the attention of Google, which has since developed it into an Internet marketing case study.

Shortly after, Abas incorporated Wild Fusion, to do for other businesses what he'd done with Baby M.

Wild Fusion has since grown remarkably, from its founder's first $250, to over a million dollars in revenue in 2012. It is now on course to double that, in 2013.

It was the first Nigerian company to become a Google Adwords partner, and today provides digital marketing and online media-buying services to a client list that includes names like Unilever, Pepsi and Diamond Bank in Nigeria, and Vodafone in Ghana.

While global corporate spending on traditional mediums (TV, radio, print) has either declined or stagnated in the last few years, Internet advertising budgets have steadily grown, and will continue to, into the near future.

The shift is beginning to be noticeable in Nigeria, and everyone -- from banks to beer companies -- is now seeking to actively engage consumers on the Internet.

According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Africa's 27 per cent average annual growth (2009 - 2013) in household Internet penetration is almost double that of the next fastest contender, Asia and the Pacific. Africa is also the world's fastest growing market for mobile broadband.

Wild Fusion has just opened a country office, in Nairobi, Kenya; its third, after Nigeria and Ghana.

It is also currently building its first proprietary technology, which it plans to license to small businesses and which will provide them with an easy-to-use interface for deploying online advertising.

In five years Abas envisions offices across Africa, and annual revenues of $100 million.

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Video - Nigeria beat South Africa 2-0 in football friendly

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Nigeria were back in the country where they won the African Nations Cup this year and Dutch-based striker Nwafor, playing only his second international, scored with an audacious back heel to give the visitors the lead in the 49th minute.

Nwofor reacted quickest with his back to goal and improvised with some power to beat South Africa goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.

He got his second goal in the 68th minute at the end of an swift passing movement involving Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa, whose quick movement cut through the home defence to set up an easy tap-in for the VVV Venlo forward.

Moses and Russian-based Musa were brought on at the start of the second half to inject more pace into the Nigeria attack.

"I knew the South Africans were planning on them starting so I kept them for an impact in the second half," coach Stephen Keshi told reporters.

South Africa created several chances but were let down by poor shooting, particularly after making space for themselves on the edge of the Nigeria box.

It was a sixth loss in eight outings for Bafana Bafana against the African champions, whose next assignment is a key World Cup qualifier against Malawi next month.

Nigeria need only draw on Sept. 7 at home in Calabar to win their group and qualify for the final round of African qualifiers.

"We need to get more rhythm and work more on our possession and tactical play. If we get that right and the attitude is there, we can progress," Keshi told a news conference.

Reuters