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By Doris Obinna
The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has expressed dissatisfaction with delays in the implementation of adjustment of the Consolidated Health Sector Salary Structure (CONHESS), just as it threatened a fresh strike over the adjustment.
It said implementation was stalled by the bureaucracy associated with appropriate salary committee at the top echelons of government
JOHESU, in a communiqué issued after meeting in Abuja, expressed worries at the delays in the CON-HESS implementation. It reminded the relevant health institutions of the President’s promise to address JOHESU’s demand of over a decade for CONHESS adjustment, which also led to the immediate suspension of a nation-wide strike by JOHESU.
JOHESU said it “reviewed the progress at the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) on the creation of establishment cadres for consultant pharmacists in the FHIs and strongly demands the speedy conclusion of the process. It posited that these established cadres would come to epitomise the endorsement of skill specialisation and career advancement of pharmacists in the health sector in the public interest.”
Its new National Chairman, Dr. Kabiru Minji-bir, vowed to intensify efforts in addressing existing demands of the union, especially the unjust treatment and discrimination of Nigerian health workers.
In another development, the union decried the challenges of delay in constituting boards and governing councils in FHIs and other health sector statutory bodies: “We have come to the conclusion that there are gaps in the effective management of these health institutions.
“There is observable culture of impunity and lack of adherence to due process by chief executive officers of these FHIs in the absence of boards of management.”
JOHESU called for the immediate reconstitution of the boards/governing councils of all FHIs, professional regulatory councils and other agencies in the health sector:
“We will continue to support and collaborate with the FG on all progressively inclined health endeavours and sustainable industrial harmony in the ultimate public interest permanently.”
