The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, has urged the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, to toe the path of honour and call off its strike to rescue Nigerians from the current outbreaks of the deadly Ebola and cholera diseases in the country.The Bauchi State acting Chairman of the union, Comrade Ladan Isa Dalhatu, who made the appeal while speaking with newsmen in Bauchi, said the NMA strike is not just untimely but also arbitrary to the laws guiding trade unionism across the globe.

 

“There is no where an association like NMA will declare a nationwide strike when they are not recognised and subsequently registered as trade union with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity,” said Dalhatu. The chairman described the NMA’s nationwide strike as not only illegal, but also an abuse to the rule of law guiding trade unionism in the country, adding that the NMA demands were irrational.

 

The union boss also accused the NMA of using the strike to boost patronage of private hospitals as patients could no longer access health services in public hospitals. “Let me tell you, private hospitals are now avenues to extort money from patients despite the harsh economic situation people are passing through,” Dalhatu said.

 

The chairman stressed that government has set a bad precedent by allowing the NMA to proceed on nationwide strike when they don’t operate under an association, saying others could follow their step in future.