Efforts by the House of Representatives to resolve the ongoing strike by medical doctors in the country failed again on Monday, as members of the Nigerian Medical Association stuck to their demands.

The House of Representatives Committee on Health, led by Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, had held a meeting for over five hours with the NMA leadership in Abuja, in a bid to call off the strike.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Health, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu; the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Worgu; the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu; and top officials of the National Salaries and Wages Commission.

A key issue of discord was the N6.7bn arrears of benefits owed the doctors, calculated in the first instance from January to June, 2014.

However, the total amount, reflecting the new rates of the benefits for the entire year, was put at N13bn.

The committee, after a lengthy discussion, was able to extract a commitment from the DG Budget to pay two months of the arrears to the doctors by the end of August.

Okogu had told the committee that the budget office could only source the two months and nothing more because the financial demands of the doctors were not captured in the 2014 budget.

He assured the meeting that the balance of the other months would be provided in the 2015 budget for appropriation by the National Assembly.

At this point, Elumelu, Worgu and Okogu all pleaded with the NMA to suspend the strike.

But the NMA, represented by its First Vice-President, Dr. Titus Ibekwe, rejected the mode of implementation of the payment.

He stated that if the association accepted the two months, the “new rates must also apply in subsequent months” or there was no agreement.

Elumelu and other committee members tried without success to convince the NMA leadership to understand that there was no way the new rate would apply when there was no provision for the money in the budget.

He pleaded, “We are the parliament, we assure you that this money will be put in the 2014 budget. Accept the two months and call off this strike to save lives. If they fail to put the balance in the budget, we will send the budget back to them. We are saying this on our honour; get your members to call off this strike.”

Ibekwe and his team went out for a five-minute meeting to consider the position of the committee, only to return with their earlier stance. Ibekwe said much as the NMA appreciated the concern of the House to resolve the crisis, the doctors would not accept the mode of implementation of the payment.

“Our members said we have even granted concessions far beyond our mandate.

“So, our position remains, we accept the two months arrears offered and there must be continuity in reflecting the new rates in subsequent months. This is where we stand,” he added.

Elumelu and other negotiators looked frustrated with the insistence of the NMA not to accede to the pleas to accept the payment proposals, as already made.

Source: Punchng

the lack of trust in government and its officials is what keeps stalling negotiations.
healthcare should however be privatized already. that wy, Doctors will get their true worth and employers make whoever they like managers.

these people signed an agreement with NMA/NARD last year that these monetary issues would take effect from January this year.they promised that monies to settle these arrears would be appropriated under SERVICE WIDE VOTE in the 2014 budget.
the service wide vote in the 2014 budget is to the tune of 260+ billion naira and was one of the reasons for the back and forth between the executive and the legislature before the budget was finally passed.
the service wide vote is not budgeted for anything in particular and is supposed to be for emergency spending.
the FG had promised the NMA that monies owed would be settled from the SWV.
why then are okonjo iweala and these criminal reps telling us stories?
where did the money that was flown to Brazil when the eagles refused to train come from?
how much has been spent on the useless national confab so far?
how much is the newspaper allowance for our senators and reps every month?
why are our leaders taking us for fools? do they think we don't know they plan to use these monies to fund election campaigns and rigging in the forthcoming state elections and 2015 presidential elections?
we are watching!

Hmmm..

Cool story!

phantom: these people signed an agreement with NMA/NARD last year that these monetary issues would take effect from January this year.they promised that monies to settle these arrears would be appropriated under SERVICE WIDE VOTE in the 2014 budget.
the service wide vote in the 2014 budget is to the tune of 260+ billion naira and was one of the reasons for the back and forth between the executive and the legislature before the budget was finally passed.
the service wide vote is not budgeted for anything in particular and is supposed to be for emergency spending.
the FG had promised the NMA that monies owed would be settled from the SWV.
why then are okonjo iweala and these criminal reps telling us stories?
where did the money that was flown to Brazil when the eagles refused to train come from?
how much has been spent on the useless national confab so far?
how much is the newspaper allowance for our senators and reps every month?
why are our leaders taking us for fools? do they think we don't know they plan to use these monies to fund election campaigns and rigging in the forthcoming state elections and 2015 presidential elections?
we are watching!

So is truly because of money that NMA went on strike allowing the poor tax payers to die off.Crazy Doctors that have left their calling to chase money.Then you better leave your calling and join the politicians for the national cake since it is what you want.
READ and Digest Fools,
The Nigerian Health Sector has been in the news for some
time now, as a result of the lingering crisis that has bedeviled
the Sector. The HEALTH sector is expected to be a place of
total wellbeing but why is there so much hostility in the
Sector which has taken a hydra-headed form? Why is the
Sector matching towards Tophet; the Valley of Destruction?
There is so much misinformation, impunity, violation of
Established Rules and Codes of Conduct. Why is the Place
polarized with mistrust, and disharmony? Why has the
Government allowed herself to become a pawn in the hands
of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Medical and
Dental Consultants Association(MDCAN) which are not
legally recognized Trade Unions ? Why does the Government
allow double Standards within the same Sector? The
government that was able to restrain a registered Trade
Union from going on strike has not stopped an unregistered
body posturing as a Trade Union. Why has the Government
allowed the Constitution of the Federal Republic, to be
violated by NMA who sees herself as the Imperial Majesty,
who must continue to subjugate other workers in the Health
Sector? Before we bring answers to these numerous WHYS,
let us x-ray the pathogenesis of the crisis in the Health
Sector.
SALARY STRUCTURES IN THE HEALTH SECTOR
Under the then President, His Excellency Alhaji Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua, the Nigerian Government in 2009 had approved
two different Salary Structures in the Health Sector. These
two Salary Scales were known as Consolidated Medical
Salary Scale (CONMESS) and Consolidated Health Salary
Scale (CONHESS).Medical Doctors in the Service of the
Nigerian Civil Service are on CONMESS, while every other
person working in the Health Sector was placed under the
CONHESS structure. Before the emergence of the late
President UMARU MUSA YAR’ ADUA, President Olusegun
Obasanjo, had placed all Nigerian Health Workers under a
unified Salary Scale.NMA had seriously kicked against this
unified Salary Scale. It was NMA that negotiated CONMESS
for her members while the Joint Health Sector Union
(JOHESU), a recognized Trade Union made up of all Unions
in the Health Sector outside Medical Doctors, negotiated
CONHESS for her members. Below is the two Salary Scales.
CONMESS SALARY SCALE
CONMESS 01----- HOUSE OFFICER/YOUTH CORPS DOCTOR
– Grade Level 10
CONMESS 02----- Registrar/Medical Officer - Grade Level 12
CONMESS 03----- Senior Registrar Grade 11/Senior Medical
Officer Grade 2 Grade Level 13
CONMESS 04---- - Senior Registrar Grade 1/Senior Medical
Officer Grade 1 Grade level 14
CONMESS 05------ Consultant/Principal Medical officer
Grade 2 Grade Level 15
CONMESS 06------ Consultant Special Grade 2/Principal
Medical Officer Grade 1 Grade Level 16
CONMESS 07-------Consultant Special Grade 1/Chief
Medical Officer Grade Level 17
CONHESS SALARY SCALE
CONHESS 7 INTERNS/NYSC ----------- Grade Level 8
CONHESS 8 X -Officer 1 ----------- Grade Level 9
CONHESS 9 Senior X-Officer ----------- Grade Level 10
CONHESS 11 Principal X- Officer ----------- Grade Level 12
CONHESS 12 Assistant Chief X-Officer ------------ Grade
Level 13
CONHESS 13 Chief X-Officer ------------- Grade Level 14
CONHESS 14 Assistant Director X-Officer ---------- Grade
Level 15
CONHESS 15 Deputy Director X-Officer ------------- Grade
Level 16
CONHESS 16 Director X-Officer ---------------------Grade
Level 17
THE FACE OF JANUS AND THE MATCH TOWARDS TOPHET!
In the late 2009, NMA, started a campaign of calumny,
against members of JOHESU , that they were Skipping, which
she alleged as a violation of Government policy. And they as
Medical Doctors are treated unjustly in the health sector .As
shown above, we have seen that NMA members were the
greatest beneficiary of the Government approved Salary
Scale, with higher entry point and jumbo pay.NMA was of the
opinion that any member of JOHESU, who had moved from
CONHESS 9 -to CONHESS 11, should be brought down by
one grade level. JOHESU members were unjustly accused of
skipping and the polity was heated up. The Public Service
Rule provides in 020205 and 020205 (e)- To be eligible for
appointment into the Federal Public Service (e) possess
requisite qualifications as provided for in the scheme of
service. The accusation was faulty because in the Scheme of
Service for JOHESU members, there was nothing like Grade
level 11.In fact it is a misnomer to term the movement from
Grade Level 10 to Grade Level 12 skipping. This is not
skipping, because there is no level 11 and what you have in
the Scheme of Service is movement from Grade level 10 to
12.The Ministry of Health was seeing through the prism and
binoculars of NMA. She supported the recommendation
subscribed by NMA that all JOHESU members who have
moved from Grade Level 10 to Grade level 12 should be
brought down by one Grade level. In a circular dated 11th of
January 2010 , with reference number HCSF /EPO/EIR/RR/
B.63755/T1/77 ,the office of the Head of Service of the
Federation stopped the movement of JOHESU members from
Grade 10 to Grade level 12. About a year later, the Head of
Service in a similar circular dated 10th of February, 2011
with reference number HCSF/EPO/EIR/63755/T1/149 called
the movement of Workers from Grade 10 to Grade Level 12
an unauthorized Skipping. By June 2011, the Health Sector
was already heated up with drum beats of war between the
Workers under the aegis of JOHESU and the Nigerian
Government represented by the Ministry of Health. It should
be recalled, that as at June 28th 2010, in a meeting held at
JUTH GUEST HOUSE in Abuja all Chief Medical Directors and
Medical Directors under the auspices of Committee of Chief
Executives, Federal Tertiary Aspect in Nigeria, unanimously
agreed and released a memo with the reference number
CCEHTH/SEC/V.1/86 on the 29th of June 2010 addressed to
all Chief Executives of Federal Health Institutions. Article 3 on
the topic was- implementation of circular on CONTISS
forbidding skipping of Grade Level 10 or any Grade level. The
decision taken was;-(1) Members decided that by July this
year (2010) all Federal Tertiary Hospital should have fully
implemented the circular with effect from 1st April 2010.All
officers who had skipped Grade level 10 should be brought
down by one grade level except those occupying the
appointive posts of Director of Administration.(2)To effect this
all CF.Os should simultaneously issue a circular to all
affected staff on the 12th July,2010 informing them of the
plan to implement the circular in July. This memo was signed
by M O. Adeoba for: Chairman CCEFTH. Immediately this
directive was later implemented, the Health Sector was
thrown into chaos, JOHESU gave the Government ultimatum
to change her decisions which was not workers friendly, but
the Government refused. Moreover the Government failed to
implement agreements signed with JOHESU since 2009. This
was now followed with a Strike action by JOHESU who
accused, the Government of not keeping with the principle of
Collective Bargaining. As a result of the crisis in the health
Sector on the 9th of August 2011, The Minister of Labour
waded into the matter, but the Ministry of Health was not
satistisfied by the resolution, and the matter was later taken
to the National Industrial Court for adjudication. After a legal
battle between the Ministry of Health and JOHESU, the Court
ruled in favour of JOHESU in 2013, that Government was
wrong to have denied JOHESU members her right. And that
JOHESU members appointed Consultants were wrongfully
stopped as consultants. After the judgment, from nowhere,
NMA/MDCAN who were not a party to the suit, cried foul that
the Court Judgment should not be implemented. They as
usual were the one that hoodwinked the Government, to have
taken the wrong decision that was upturned by the Court.
Suddenly they started accusing government of favouring
JOHESU members, and that they must skip, even though that
no JOHESU member was skipping. Now that the Government
is trying to muster the courage to do what is right, NMA/
MDCAN has chosen to fight the Nigerian patients, by denying
them services and declaring a strike action. Note that it is the
same patient they have told the world that they own and that
all their actions is for the best interest of the patient. Today
NMA/MDCAN who insisted that they must have a different
salary structure are the ones imposing on the Government
what other employees should earn .The same NMA/MDCAN
that wrongfully accused JOHESU members of skipping and
even lost this matter in court is the one, now championing
skipping for her members, even when doctors scheme of
service does not grant such. What a double standard!
NMA/MDCAN AND CALCULATED SABOTAGE.
Since July 1st 2014,NMA AND MDCAN have denied patients
the right to treatment even when the National Industrial Court
had ruled that all parties involved should maintain status quo
ante. Dr Obembe the leader of NMA, who also happens to be
a member of MDCAN has continued to defy Court orders
under the guise that it is MDCAN that went to Court. One is
forced to ask, “Is Dr Obembe not a member of MDCAN”?
Again, does NMA have the moral justification to call for strike
when she is not a Trade Union? Can NMA go on strike on an
issue that is already before a Court of competent jurisdiction?
How does NMA think that the Government will be negotiating
with her on an issue before the Court? MDCAN in a
calculated ploy to deceive the Nigerian populace came on air
to declare that they are not on strike and that they are not
joining NMA in the strike action. The truth of the matter is
that MDCAN is on strike they are not on ground, and they are
not working. MDCAN and her fellow consultants, who have
so designated themselves as the owner of the patients, have
abandoned the patient they say they own. On the so called
minimal achievable demand, NMA should be told in clear
terms that they are not achievable. In the immortal words of
the erudite Justice Niki Tobi, JCA ( as he then was) “when an
issue is before a Court of competent jurisdiction, even though
it takes time, the parties must wait ,they must not jump the
gun, they cannot go for self help” What NMA is doing now is
self help and transfer of aggression on the innocent patients
they have acclaimed to own. The issues raised by NMA/
MDCAN are before a court, so negotiations and decisions
cannot be taking on such matters.
NMA/MDCAN strike is a strike of Prejudice and Ego trip, and
Government should be firm to stop this hydra-headed
problem. The Members of the National Assembly and the
Government should not cave in to the blackmail by NMA/
MDCAN. They must be firm to make NMA/MDCAN see that
their actions are against the state. This is the only way to
make NMA/MDCAN amenable to the laws of the land and
eschew impunity. The Government should know that
Nigerians and indeed the world is watching! JOHESU
members account over 95% of the Healthcare work force, so
the Government must be careful not to be seen to show
favoritism. But must stand on the pedestal of equity and
justice to call a spade a spade. The agitation by NMA/MDCAN
that only they should be Directors, Hospital Chief Executives,
and Consultants should be jettisoned in a jiffy. This is
because such demands are not supported by any statute in
Nigeria. If one is to use the principle of balance of
convenience, how does appointing other healthcare experts
as Directors, Consultants in their specialized disciplines,
affect members of NMA/MDCAN? Even when the different
approved scheme of service, for all these professionals,
allows them to reach the zenith of their career and recognizes
such appointments. How does it affect NMA/MDCAN?. NMA/
MDCAN should know that the other Healthcare Workers are
not a conquered people and that the hospital is not their
capitalist empire. The hospital is a government parastatals
set by law and must operate within the confines of the law
setting it up.NMA/MDCAN should throw away the toga of
medical capitalism and imperialism by embracing medical
humanism. A Physician is expected to be compassionate,
and service oriented devoid of prejudice. NMA/MDCAN
should go and study the preamble to the declaration of
Independence of the United States of America, composed in
1776 which reads thus, “We hold these truth to be self-
evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” So do all
medical personnel in the health sector who is not an
allopathic physician do affirm. NMA/MDCAN should know
that for a nation to excel, it must be build on equality of all
men, rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.NMA/
MDCAN are not the employers of the Nigerian Health Workers,
so she cannot decide what Nigerian Health Workers get. The
issue of relativity is unfounded and has no basis on any
Nigerian Statute book even indeed world over. No
professional’s wage bill is determined by the wage bill of
another, but by Governments’ Terms of Appointment into the
Service.
On the floor of the Nigerian National Assembly, when, the
incumbent Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu ,was
being screened to become a Minister, he was asked, “how
would he maintain peace in the health sector that has been
so laden with interprofessional disharmony?”. The Minister
answered that he would do all it takes to bring harmony into
the sector. Again, he was also asked, “what are his views that
only one professional group is the one virtually in control in
the health sector and that other healthcare professionals are
not so involved in leadership of the System?”. The Min. of
Health again answered; that “we will get there that it is a
gradual process that things are changing.” To the Most HIGH
be the glory that the Hon Minister told the world ,that his
action of stopping the consultancy status of other health
workers, was as a result of the complain made by NMA. It is
on the same issue, that the National Industrial Court has said
that, that action was in error, a violation of workers right to
collective bargain. Now that the Hon. Min. of Health has
started seeing that NMA/MDCANS’ actions, are in bad faith,
he must be firm to right the structural injustices in the Health
Sector. So that he would have lived up to his words, “that he
would do everything in his power to bring harmony in the
health sector.” The crisis in the health sector has gotten to
where it is today, because of the over bearing attitude of
some allopathic physicians, who have forgotten that medicine
is the art, act and science of healing, whose scope is beyond
allopathic medicine. It is highly unfortunate that NMA/
MDCAN leadership personified in the person of Dr Obembe
has suddenly forgotten that the word medical is an adjective
which means related to the art, act and science of healing. A
situation, where allopathic physicians in a false mindset sees
only themselves as being medical and other healthcare
experts as non medical breeds/creates a wrong image. The
future allopathic physicians must be nursed and nurtured to
have a mind set of medical humanism to give a good medical
image that does not thrive on rancor, falsehood and a
doctored ideology. The word medical is not a synonym for a
doctor, for if it were, it would not be seen placed in front of
the word doctor as in the term “medical doctor” for that will
be tautology. Every healthcare professional involved with the
act, art and science related to healing are all medical
personnel. So the word medical is not an exclusive term to
designate allopathic physicians but all that is involved with
healing and healthcare services.
Conclusion
Now that it is so glaring that NMA/MDCAN strike is sabotage
against the state, because they are causing untold hardship
to the citizens of Nigeria. This as a result of their ego driven
demands. And have failed to obey Government orders,
because most hospital Chief Executives being members of
MDCAN are in sympathy with them. They have failed to call
NMA/MDCAN to order to suspend the strike, even when there
is a court order. As a result of the death of Nigerians, based
on this sabotage, the Federal Government should invoke the
powers conferred on her in section 18(1) and 18(2) of
University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstruction of Boards, etc)
Act CAP 463 LFN which states 18(1) “The President may,
notwithstanding any provision of this Act, take such
measures as occasion may warrant in order to improve the
efficiency or due administration of the teaching hospitals
specified in the Schedule to this Act.”
18(2) “ For the purpose of section (1 )of this section, the
President may appoint or give such authority for the
appointment of Military Commandments to take charge of
administration of any of the teaching hospitals specified in
this Act for such period as may be stipulated in the authority.
Again, section 19 of the act, on the definition of hospital
states “Hospital includes all institutions (however called)
controlled by the board.” Government should as a matter of
urgency bring sanity into the system by making sure; that
this sabotage by allopathic doctors is stopped. The
Government should declare their actions illegal. As the Health
Sector moves towards TOPHET a symbol of collapse, we
must do all it takes to salvage her, by doing what is right!

nhiyo:
Efforts by the House of Representatives to resolve the ongoing strike by medical doctors in the country failed again on Monday, as members of the Nigerian Medical Association stuck to their demands.

The House of Representatives Committee on Health, led by Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, had held a meeting for over five hours with the NMA leadership in Abuja, in a bid to call off the strike.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Health, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu; the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Worgu; the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu; and top officials of the National Salaries and Wages Commission.

A key issue of discord was the N6.7bn arrears of benefits owed the doctors, calculated in the first instance from January to June, 2014.

However, the total amount, reflecting the new rates of the benefits for the entire year, was put at N13bn.

The committee, after a lengthy discussion, was able to extract a commitment from the DG Budget to pay two months of the arrears to the doctors by the end of August.

Okogu had told the committee that the budget office could only source the two months and nothing more because the financial demands of the doctors were not captured in the 2014 budget.

He assured the meeting that the balance of the other months would be provided in the 2015 budget for appropriation by the National Assembly.

At this point, Elumelu, Worgu and Okogu all pleaded with the NMA to suspend the strike.

But the NMA, represented by its First Vice-President, Dr. Titus Ibekwe, rejected the mode of implementation of the payment.

He stated that if the association accepted the two months, the “new rates must also apply in subsequent months” or there was no agreement.

Elumelu and other committee members tried without success to convince the NMA leadership to understand that there was no way the new rate would apply when there was no provision for the money in the budget.

He pleaded, “We are the parliament, we assure you that this money will be put in the 2014 budget. Accept the two months and call off this strike to save lives. If they fail to put the balance in the budget, we will send the budget back to them. [size=16pt]We are saying this on our honour[/size]; get your members to call off this strike.”

Ibekwe and his team went out for a five-minute meeting to consider the position of the committee, only to return with their earlier stance. Ibekwe said much as the NMA appreciated the concern of the House to resolve the crisis, the doctors would not accept the mode of implementation of the payment.

“Our members said we have even granted concessions far beyond our mandate.

“So, our position remains, we accept the two months arrears offered and there must be continuity in reflecting the new rates in subsequent months. This is where we stand,” he added.

Elumelu and other negotiators looked frustrated with the insistence of the NMA not to accede to the pleas to accept the payment proposals, as already made.

Source: Punchng

At bolded. Very Funny!

This health sector should be privatised already!!!