The Joint Health Sector Union has taken the Nigeria Medical Association to court for going on strike, claiming that the NMA lacks the constitutional right to do so.

Joined in the suit are the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the Registrar of trade unions, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Speaking at a press conference called by JOHESU in Ibadan on Wednesday, the General Secretary of the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, Moshood Akinade, said the doctors acted in an unprofessional manner by their refusal to treat patients, adding that COHESU has challenged the action of the doctors in court.

Among other things, COHESU is challenging the constitutional rights of NMA to call for a strike particularly when it is not a legally registered trade union.

“We have presented eight points in court which will show that NMA is acting unconstitutionally when the court rules. Their strike is illegal and all what the doctors want is to scuttle the effort and agreement that JOHESU has reached with the Federal Government.

The doctors are punishing the masses and denying them the right to medical care in government hospitals. The patients can institute a joint action against the doctors if they wish to fight back,” Akinade said. He went further to list some of the demands that JOHESU wanted the court to declare, saying “NMA and its incorporated trustees as well as associates and allies like Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria and Association of Resident Doctors are not trade union organisations so they have no legal rights to declare a strike.

“They also don’t have the legal right to disrupt the career progression of members of COHESU in teaching hospitals, general hospitals, clinics, federal medical centres and state institutions where our members are employees.

“We want the court to declare their action null and void because only registered trade union organisations can declare a trade dispute, down tool, embark on a strike or a protest. We also seek an order of the court deeming the industrial action embarked upon by the doctors since July 1, 2014 as illegal, unconstitutional, unprofessional and ultra vires.”

JOHESU alleged that NMA was working against its members by making demands that would limit the career peak to which non-doctors could reach in the health sector and that the doctors were the biggest beneficiaries of the strike because patients now patronise their hospitals.

Nice one

I believe people should be able to come to an understanding when a passage is read. I appreciate that it might have been rather lengthy than what most are used to reading though. The demands are stated in the English language and it is painfully obvious that many of the posters are lacking in comprehension. This is not written to insult or annoy however the truth cannot be hid. It is obvious that some of the matters addressed concern agreements made 5 years ago and recourse hasn't been granted. The whole health sector in Nigeria believes in the principle of strike to get their demands heard; strike that - all the sectors have been employing that tool; education , labor to name a few. We are all guilty of that. The truth behind that is our unsympathetic government. The question we must ask as nigerians is this: must the government push it's people to the brink when it becomes a fight to the finish? Even in the light of that, it remains both blind and deaf to reason - polytechnics called off strike with no resolution to the matter
If in 3 months the demands are yet unmet and they go back on strike, you nigerians will forget they chose to give the new minister a chance to meet the demands and call them all sorts of names.
Back to the matter at hand, this strike was not impromptu, there had been warning beforehand. The matters were nor addressed. We have been on strike for three weeks, we are still at an impasse. Which one of you Johesuth will allow the got renegade on a previous agreement? Let's leave all talk of consultancy aside. I believe there should be promotion in every sphere of life......becoming consultants in each respective field is alright provided that each maintains and mans his field. I cannot despite being a specialist in one field, know all there is in medicine and it's allied branches. But the emphasis remains on the age old tested and trusted realisation of roles and responsibilities. The doctor remains the head of the team, come what may. That is the only way patient care is sustainable. All branches are vital and can cost the patient his life if he is not adequately managed by all.

My own two cents.

As far as I'm concerned, healthcare delivery is multidisciplinary and all hand need to be on deck for efficiency to be achieved. None is more important than the other