The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Federal Health Institutions Sector, has made it clear that its ongoing nationwide warning strike has not been called off.
This follows claims by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, suggesting that the strike had ended.
Speaking on Friday, August 1, the union’s National Public Relations Officer, Omomo Tibiebi, that the industrial action, which began on Wednesday, is still very much in place.
“The strike has not been suspended,” Tibiebi said. “Earlier today, the NANNM executives had a meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, and it was the minister that went to press to say the strike was called-off,” he said as quoted by Punch.
“He wasn’t the one that called the strike in the first place, so he has no right to call off the strike. So, the strike is still on,” Tebiebi added.
He said the union’s leadership would meet on Saturday to review the Federal Government’s promises and decide on the next steps.
READ ALSO: FG Pleads: Call Off Strike; Nurses Insist: Action First, Talks Later
“There will be a National Executive Council meeting by tomorrow (Saturday), and that’s when a decision will be made, and we would know if what the Federal Government has promised is good enough for us to suspend the strike,” Tibiebi noted.
The strike was launched to press for longstanding demands, including improved shift and uniform allowances, a dedicated salary structure for nurses, increased core duty allowance, mass recruitment of nurses, and the creation of a nursing department within the Federal Ministry of Health.
Across the country, hospitals have begun to feel the weight of the strike. Nurses are absent from wards, forcing some hospitals to discharge patients early.
In many cases, only a handful of health workers are left struggling to keep essential services running. Some hospitals now offer only skeletal operations, while others have been forced to shut their doors entirely.
As the weekend approaches, patients and families anxiously await the outcome of the union’s meeting, hoping for a resolution that restores stability to healthcare services.