By Joyce Ekeh
Health services in public hospitals across Delta State are facing fresh pressure as the strike by allied health professionals enters a critical phase, with the workers insisting they will not return to work until the state government addresses their outstanding demands.
The Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, NUAHP, said its members had been pushed into the industrial action after months of unsuccessful engagements with the state government over allowances and other conditions of service.
However, the Hospital Management Board, HMB, said the strike had not created a vacuum in the affected departments, insisting that government-employed technicians were currently holding fort.
State Chairman of NUAHP, Comrade Uruwayino Charles Samuel Jr, told Vanguard yesterday that the union began engaging the Ministry of Health on February 1 over three major demands, including payment of 16 months’ arrears of the peculiar allowance implemented in 2024 and implementation of a circular reviewing allowances for health practitioners.
According to him, the union had submitted the relevant circulars to the ministry after discovering that the two allowances had been implemented for doctors in state employment.
He said the dispute escalated after the state government approved a N200,000 monthly preferential allowance for medical doctors.
“Initially, it was three issues: the payment of 16 months arrears of the peculiar allowance, which was implemented in 2024, and the implementation of the circular on the review of allowances of health practitioners,” he said.
Uruwayino said the union subsequently embarked on a three-day warning strike in April following what it described as failure to resolve the issues.
He said the Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Onojaemo, subsequently invited the union and other stakeholders to a meeting.
“At that meeting, through his spokesman, he stated that the NLC and TUC had concluded that affiliates should forego the peculiar allowance because it was forgone for the implementation of the minimum wage.
“Nothing was said about the preferential allowance. When we raised our hands to ask questions, the Commissioner ended the meeting,” he alleged.
According to the union leader, further engagements eventually resulted in the constitution of a committee in August to determine the financial implications of the workers’ demands.
He said the committee accepted the union’s position, recommending N180,000 for the preferential allowance and payment of the outstanding 16 months’ peculiar allowance arrears.
“The committee agreed with us. For the preferential allowance, the committee agreed to N180,000. For the peculiar allowance, the committee agreed to 16 months of arrears.
“Everything was compiled, and the report was presented to the Honourable Commissioner, who accepted it without raising any argument, meaning there was a resolution to the dispute,” he said.
Uruwayino, however, alleged that implementation of the recommendations was subsequently delayed.
“When it came to paying us, he (Commissioner) started singing a different tune after all our efforts since February. He asked us to give him four months, then two months,” he said.
The union chairman said the government had now invited the union to another meeting scheduled for Thursday, but insisted that the strike would continue until the outstanding payments were made.
“The commissioner has now given us a formal invite, and hopefully we will meet this week on Thursday. But we are still going to continue with the strike until he pays us our money. We are not going to work,” he declared.
But the HMB maintained that services were continuing in the affected hospital departments despite the industrial action.
An HMB source told Vanguard that government-employed technicians had stepped in to prevent disruption of services.
“The various departments that are on strike, they have technicians, and the technicians are holding fort for them in the departments. There’s no vacuum,” the source said.
“There are technicians — government-employed technicians — who are holding fort. There are pharmacy technicians, laboratory technicians and others.
“So, there’s no vacuum. Work is going on. My Permanent Secretary is even monitoring the situation.”
The Commissioner for Health had yet to respond to the latest development as of press time, even as both sides were expected to meet in a fresh attempt to resolve the dispute.
The standoff has raised concerns over the potential impact of a prolonged strike on patients, particularly those requiring laboratory, pharmacy and other specialised allied health services in government hospitals across the state.
