We the Rivers state health workers are very dissatisfied with the leadership style of the national president of Medical and Health Workers' Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Comrade Biobelemoye Josiah and can no longer keep sealed lips due to the fact that if his excesses are not curtailed now, more damage than he has already caused WILL be experienced.

MHWUN is a democratic union but since the National President, Comrade Biobelemoye Josiah ascended the top office of the union, it seems imposition of candidates has been the order of the day. A case in point is that of the past Rivers State Chairman, Comrade Beatrice Etubo who he perpetrated in office till 2018 against the dictates of the MHWUN Constitution (page 15, par 11) after she retired in 2016.

All efforts channelled towards him, urging him to ensure her replacement were disregarded and it led to widespread anger among the Rivers health workforce, ultimately giving rise to the formation of the splinter group, Primary Health Care Workers Association which is now duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) . As it stands, majority of us in Rivers State do not even want to hear the name, MHWUN.

We even learnt the Community Health group in our sister state Bayelsa are unhappy with marginalization emanating from him due to imposition of candidates without due consultation, arising from running the union like it is his personal estate, and his insatiable appetite for satisfying his selfish desires at the detriment of egalitarianism and productivity.

Elections are around the corner, and we are sure that based on his antecedents, he will definitely want to impose candidates on us here in Rivers State, Bayelsa and any other South South state where he can wield influence.

In the event that he succeeds, the inevitable will happen: the loyalty of workers to the Primary Health Care Association will skyrocket and more splinter groups will be formed and the MHWUN union will be depopulated and you know what that means.

To avoid that, those who are in positions of authority capable of curtailing his excesses, should as a matter of urgency call him to order so that we can elect our choices this time and forestall the imminent danger lurking around.


Baridam Samuel

Opuoyibo Granville

Gladys Fiberesima

Nsirim Amadi

(For Concerned Rivers Health Workers)