There is palpable tension among top officials of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and other top members of  President Muhammadu Buhari-led government over the plan by health workers under the umbrella of Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) to declare total strike this week, a senior official of the APC has disclosed. It would be recalled that JOHESU issued an ultimatum to the federal government on January 16 which ended on January 31.

 

At a media briefing weekend in Abuja, the JOHESU President, Josiah Biobelemoye, disclosed that branch executive representatives in federal health institutions and state chairman/secretaries of all member unions of JOHESU have been specially invited to attend a crucial meeting slated to commence tomorrow.

 

Already, JOHESU in collaboration with NLC/TUC  have concluded plans to stage a national rally in Abuja to draw the attention of the federal and state ministries of health to the unending tyranny of federal ministry of health and state ministries of health directed against health workers in all health facilities at federal and local government levels on Monday, February 4. Baring last minute intervention by the Federal Government, JOHESU may announce indefinite strike action at the end of the meeting on Monday.

 

The demands put forward by the JOHESU to the federal government, according to Biobelemoye, include unjustified withholding of the salaries of its members for the months of April and May, 2018; upward adjustment of CONHESS salary structure; headship of hospital departments, implementation of consultancy cadre to their members and punitive actions against their members in Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).

 

The panic by the APC and the presidency, according to our source, is premised on the fact that any strike action by the health workers at this ‘election period’ will be a minus to the President Buhari’s ambition to return as president.

 

“This is definitely not the best of times for us. The fact is that we are under intense tension and serious panic following the threat by the health workers to embark on strike at this crucial time of our campaigns. If we allow these workers to embark on strike, we may lose many voters and that will not augur well for us as a government that is working hard to return to power,” the source said while responding to questions exclusively from The AUTHORITY in Abuja.

 

On what the government intends to do to overcome the situation, the top APC official who is also among those who have strong voice at the presidency said: “I cannot tell you categorically now what we are going to do. However, I can tell you that since the ultimatum ended, we have been restless. You know we are working to see how we are going to resolve the ASUU strike, now the health workers are on our neck. We are overwhelmed.

 

“Before the end of Monday, I assure you that the government is going to intervene in order to avert the strike action.”

 

The source, however, appealed to well–meaning Nigerians to join the government in mounting pressure on the health workers to ensure they did not announce indefinite strike after the Monday’s meeting.

 

The source who pleaded anonymity, called on the health workers, to, for the interest of Nigerians, continue to seek for other means of getting their demands met, but not through strike action.

 

On his part, while responding to a question on the negative impact of the strike by the health workers to the election, the JOHESU President said: “You will remember that JOHESU is a body that has always had a deep concern for Nigerians. We have waited for eight months, even though we are supposed to have started something, but because of our love for Nigerians, we waited this long period thinking the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity will be more patriotic.

 

“We waited and went through the process of dialogue, even when we are provoked and even when they disobeyed court orders. I think there is a limit to our patience. You will agree with me that, especially in the health sector, the saying that the patient dog eat the fattest borne does not work, rather in the case of the Federal Ministry of Health, the patience dog see no borne to eat.  Our patience cannot be intact.”

 

Biobelemoye, however, called on all JOHESU members to remain alert to await further directives which will be communicated to them from the headquarters.