The coalition of health sector unions in Lagos State on Wednesday began a three-day warning strike over non-implementation of adjustments to the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
The unions include the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).
Oloruntoba Odumosu, Secretary of NANNM, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), insisted that the strike would hold following the expiration of an ultimatum issued by the unions.
Odumosu disclosed that a meeting of the union leaders with officials of the state government on Dec. 9 also ended in an impasse.
“The government officials couldn’t give us a clear timeline for the implementation of our demands and there’s no governor’s approval for the payment.
“We reported the feedback to the Congress, which was ongoing at our secretariat, and it unanimously voted ‘No’, insisting on proceeding with the strike,” he said.
He complained that the matter had lingered for long, in spite of numerous attempts by the unions to resolve it amicably.
“However, it has become clear that the government does not accord the issue the seriousness it deserves.
“Engagement on Dec. 2 with the Ministry of Establishments and Training further reinforced our concerns as the meeting failed to provide clarity on the computation method for the adjustment.
“This is particularly concerning given that Lagos State does not operate the full CONHESS structure, nor did it yield a definite timeline for payment.
“This is especially disheartening, as adjustments have already been implemented for doctors since October 2024.
“This approach, which prioritises some segments of the health workforce while neglecting others, is divisive and undermines the collective morale of health professionals in the state,” he said.
Odumosu regretted that the government appears ‘indifferent’ to addressing their legitimate demands in spite of the critical roles played by members of the unions in ensuring the delivery of quality healthcare to Lagos residents.
“The handling of this matter has left us with no other choice but to resort to this warning strike, spanning from Dec. 11 to Dec. 13.
“It is aimed at pressing home our demands for the full implementation of the CONHESS adjustment for all eligible health workers in Lagos State,” he said.
Similarly, Kamaldeen Kabiawu, State Secretary, NUAHP, decried the delayed implementation of the 25 per cent CONHESS adjustment, especially after the government approved a 35 per cent CONMESS adjustment for doctors in October 2024.
NAN reports that the strike will affect all state-owned health facilities – Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), general hospitals, and primary health centres (PHCs).
Members of the unions include nurses, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, dieticians, medical laboratory scientists, optometrists and radiographers.
Others are dental therapists, medical physicists, health information managers, clinical psychologists and medical social workers.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Lagos health workers begin three-day strike
Rivers state pledges gunboats to navy in fight against oil theft in Nigeria
Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state will provide six gunboats to the navy for patrols as part of efforts to help combat oil theft, which has plagued the region, its governor said on Wednesday.
Rampant oil theft from pipelines and wells has crippled Nigeria's oil industry in recent years, damaging government finances and stifling exports.
Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara told reporters in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that Nigeria's recent oil output surge to 1.8 million barrels per day was due to a combination of state-level initiatives and federal government efforts.
"We are donating in the next few days six gunboats to the Nigerian Navy, the closest agency to us in this war against oil theft, to check this scourge in the difficult terrain, and also deploy them for regional security," Fubara said.
"We are not just relying on the activities of the big national committees. We also have our internal mechanism to checkmate and discourage the vandalisation of these pipelines," he said.
The gunboats will enhance the navy's waterway patrols and response times, particularly near submerged oil export pipelines that are prone to attacks.
Fubara said the state and host communities are crucial to the fight against oil theft, emphasizing how their support in pipeline security and vandalism prevention has enabled the ongoing rehabilitation of the Trans Niger Pipeline, a key export link.
Beyond security measures, the state government is investing in education, healthcare, and infrastructure in areas prone to vandalism to provide alternative opportunities for young people.
"We are re-orienting them because we found out that the average age of the perpetrators of these crimes is about 15, 16 years," Fubara said.
By Camillus Eboh, Reuters
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Senate seeks to criminalise corn exports to tackle hunger in Nigeria
Nigeria's Senate has passed a bill seeking to make it a crime to export large quantities of unprocessed corn in an effort to alleviate hunger in the West African nation, documents seen by Reuters on Friday showed.
Africa's most populous country is grappling with its worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Economic hardship has worsened since President Bola Tinubu started austerity reforms, including devaluing the country's naira currency and ending a decades-old petrol subsidy, fuelling inflation.
The weak Nigerian currency has spurred informal exports of corn, rice and sorghum to neighbouring countries due to the exchange rate differential with the West African CFA franc.
Corn is a staple in Nigeria that is also used for animal feed, drinks and processed flour.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts a rise in Nigeria's 2024/25 corn exports to 75,000 metric tons from its 2023/24 estimate of 50,000 metric tons.
The Senate bill, which will need the president's assent to become law, will make it illegal to export unprocessed corn from a minimum of 1 metric ton.
Violators would pay the value of the corn in fines or face a one-year prison sentence.
A joint report by Nigeria's government and the United Nations said in November that more than 30 million people are expected to be food insecure next year, a one-third jump from this year.
The USDA estimates that Nigeria consumes about 12 million metric tons of corn a year, importing roughly 100,000 metric tons.
Netflix cuts original Nigeria productions
Netflix has denied reports it is pulling out of Nigeria but local film producers and industry insiders told Semafor Africa the streaming giant has been cutting back on original productions.
“We are not exiting Nigeria,” wrote a Netflix spokesperson in an email.”We will continue to invest in Nigerian stories to delight our members.”
However two filmmakers who have worked with Netflix on Nigerian productions said some local filmmakers were told last month that their Netflix original projects were either being put on hold or shelved. The conversations with filmmakers were said to have come days after Netflix threw a glamorous “Lights, Camera… Naija!” party on Nov. 2 with a raft of Nollywood actors and celebrities at a venue in Lagos.
The devaluation of the local currency and runaway inflation are said to have made production costs unsustainable in the near term.
Filmmakers said they believe Netflix will continue to license Nigerian films, but likely only ones which already had some traction at local cinemas or elsewhere rather than investing in production.
Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, whose comments are believed to have sparked the speculation, said he never suggested Netflix was exiting the country: “I clearly said they are cutting down on their exposure.”
Netflix signalled its Nigeria ambitions with the acquisition of Lionheart, a film produced in 2018 by industry veteran Genevieve Nnaji, as its first original in the country. The streamer has since commissioned and co-produced multiple original series and films in the years since, opening up a new medium for Nollywood’s deep bench of screenwriters and producers to complement theatrical releases.
The King’s Horsemen, a Yoruba language epic that premiered on the platform in 2022, became the first cinematic adaptation of a novel by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. Last year’s hit crime thriller The Black Book had the kind of global reach that appeared to signal to audiences that the world was ready for African storytelling and that it would be a big part of Netflix’s content future.
Yinka Adegoke and Alexander Onukwue, SEMAFOR
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