Hospitals and health centres across the states were gripped by silence as a nationwide strike emptied wards and emergency units as a result of nurses strike.
The nationwide strike by the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) crippled healthcare services across multiple states.
Hospitals discharged patients, and only skeletal or emergency services were available in some facilities.
The workers are demanding improved staffing, better facilities, and recognition in healthcare decision-making.
The Federal Government appealed to the nurses and midwives to call off the seven-day warning strike.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, made the appeal after a meeting with the leadership of the association yesterday.
According to spokesman of the ministry Patience Onuobia, the minister implored the association to step back from the action, saying that a strike was not the best solution to industrial disputes.
The minister urged the association to embrace dialogue while the government continues to work on addressing their concerns.
The meeting will continue tomorrow while the government works out a resolution to the dispute.
The association on July 10 issued a 15-day ultimatum to the government.
Some of the demands include: creation of a department for Nursing in the Federal Ministry of Health; shift duty allowance for nurses at 30 per cent consolidated; 20 per cent specialist allowance; upward review of uniform allowance of N300,000 per annum; constitution of Governing Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN); constitution of board of Federal Health institutions to reflect fair representation of nurses.
Others are: upward review of call duty allowance at four per cent consolidated; centralisation and re-categorisation of intern Nurses; payment of 35 per cent teaching allowance to all nurses; payment of peculiar excess workload and burnout allowance to nurses; payment of retention allowance to nurses in order to mitigate brain drain; and tax waiver for health professionals.
Unlike the doctors who frequently go on strike, the strike by the nurses is the first time in more than 40 years.
At the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, the bustling corridors and emergency ward were ghostly quiet—no staff, no patients, only abandoned beds and idle equipment.
Isolo General Hospital mirrored the scene, with most departments shut and only a few units operating at skeletal capacity.
Igando General Hospital was perhaps the starkest, its maternity ward lined with unattended mothers, their calls for help echoing in deserted halls.
“The doctor came earlier and assured me I’ll be discharged soon,” said Grace, a patient waiting anxiously amid the staff absence.
