In this article you will read on Delta State Nurses To Governor Okowa: Call commissioner for health to order
Delta State Nurses To Governor Okowa: Call commissioner for health to order
Nurses in Delta state have pleaded with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to call the state commissioner for health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, to order. The call is becoming necessary following the ongoing process of admitting students into the community nursing and midwifery programme in the state.
The appeal was made by a group of nurses under the aegis of Nurses 4Upgrade Profession and made available to journalists in Asaba, the Delta state capital on Monday.
The nurses said if the governor does not call the commissioner to order and ultimately stop the planned programme, the programme will jeopardise the health of the people of Delta state. This is so because the product of the programme, according to them, will not be different from quacks.
The nurses said human life is precious and should not be traded under the altar of political gains, adding that each life matters, thus rural dwellers deserve the best of professionals either nurses, midwives, doctors or paramedics.
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The nurses also called on the State House of Assembly to investigate the motives behind the commissioner’s introduction of quack programmes when Delta state has more than eight health related medical institutions that produce more than one thousand professionals on annual basis.
It could be recalled that the Delta state commissioner for health has indicated interest in running a community nursing and midwifery programme initiated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.
The programme, according to the council, is intended to bridge the gap of shortage of manpower among nurses and midwives in the health sector who will work exclusively in the communities where they are resident as community nurses and midwives.
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It is believed that the programme is initiated for states lacking in nursing and midwifery supply to the health sector in Nigeria. The programme is not compulsory for all states but only for those which do not have available hands in the health sector.
The nurses said the programme was originally planned for Northern Nigerians with lack of adequately trained Nurses and Midwives but was suddenly adopted by Delta State Ministry Health with so much pride, despite high level of education and many unemployed Nurses and Midwives spanning into thousands from various communities in the state.
Delta nurses association is insisting that Delta cannot key into the programme as it is not lacking nurses and midwives. The association said there are over a thousand nurses and midwives already trained and ready to serve in the government of Delta state.
Delta nurses association is insisting that Delta cannot key into the programme as it is not lacking nurses and midwives. The association said there are over a thousand nurses and midwives already trained and ready to serve in the government of Delta state.
The body is opposed to training nurses and midwives which, after graduation, the certificate can only permit them to work in the communities they are resident in and cannot work outside their states. They are not eligible work even in the state civil service as health care workers.
The nurses said the greatest wish of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) in Delta state is the employment of over 1500 unemployed Nurses who are indigenes of the said rural communities.
The nurses said that though the same tutors and schools will train the community nurses and midwives does not mean the curriculum is the same, noting that since the curriculum differs, so the duration of training, hence they are definitely going to be substandard products for the state health sector.
“It is unfortunate that the commissioner of health, who aims to run a programme that would integrate at least one candidate from the political wards in the 25 local government areas of the state, does not deem it fit to consult the political representatives of the people at the state Houses of Assembly. This is to make amendment to the laws establishing the state Schools of Nursing Agbor and Eku.
“Such action of his is not only an assault on the existing laws but capable of causing constitutional crisis in matters that the commissioner does not have jurisdiction over,” the nurses said.
On allegation that Nurses consistently reject posting to rural areas, the nurses said: “We dare the commissioner to provide such evidence in the past 20 years. For avoidance of doubt, we have over 400 Nurses currently working in the rural communities even when their rural and riverine allowances have been withdrawn by government for about a year now, under the watch of Dr. Onoye. For the areas needing more Nurses, the state should employ and NANNM will ensure they are there as scheduled.”
Omos Oyibode
Abdullahi Suleiman a Certified Registered Nurse based in Nigeria, an Entrepreneur and Also a Blogger, passionate about Community Development and Cosmetic Nursing
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