Posted on: Sun 24-07-2016

Few days ago I read a publication on www.nursingworldnigeria.com by the directorate of nursing services Lagos state and signed by Mrs Olaifa Clement Ayo, the secretary to the Lagos state Nursing and Midwifery Committee. It was a notification to the effect 'that the Nursing and Midwifery committee Lagos state inspectorate team would commence inspection from 25th to 29th July 2016, urging that it would be mandatory for all nurses to be ready to show their valid practicing license during this period. Hospitals were also notified to prepare adequately with evidence of a reliable nominal roll of nurses. It warned that any nurse who had no valid license would be sanctioned.

While this campaign in itself is a noble and conscientious effort by the committee, it also depicts the proverbial scenario of putting the cart before the horse. Majority of Nigerian nurses on a daily basis take to social media to criticize the inability of the council to produce licenses promptly and to also deal with the backlog of pending licenses awaiting production, yet the council has not deemed it fit to educate us on the reasons for these delays and the challenges they face.

How are we supposed to "show" what we don’t "have", infact how are we supposed to "show" a license that it is still in the possession of the council. I think we should be the ones demanding that the council "show" us our license in their possession or show us actions taken to expedite the license renewal process. Unending pathetic tales abound of license applications pending for three years and even expiring in the hands of the council and yet no official statement from the council.

Why publicize a supposedly sting operation? Why tell a criminal of your plans to catch him starting from "25th to 29th July 2016'. Why 5 days? Shouldn’t this be a continuous operation? These quacks and the doctors breeding them are no fools; the public notice only gives them enough time to perfect their criminal acts and doctor their nominal roll of nurses and possibly give the auxiliary quacks time-off/sick-off starting from 25^th to 29th. How many hospitals does the inspectorate team think it can cover in 5 days? From my little experience and practice in Lagos state, it would take over 8 months to sanitize mushroom clinics in ketu/Mile 12 axis alone, let alone the ones at iyana ipaga and oworoshoki.

The committee instead should display some form of discreetness about its operation, liaise with the police and other relevant law enforcement agencies for intelligence gathering, then target and storm identified hospitals breeding these quacks. The focus should be more on the so called 'auxilliary' quacks not the innocent nurses whom the same council has failed to issue his/her license. You should also focus on the truck load of foreign trained nurses practicing in Nigeria without due registration with the council. Involve the media and the press for public education and sensistization on the proliferation and menace of these quacks.

it’s a good sign that after years of hibernation, the Lagos NMCN committee inspectorate team has decided to wake from its slumber and swing into action for 5 days. I pray this serves as a wakeup call to the other moribund state committees who probably are earning allowances with no single success story of persecuting one "quack'. I pray that God in his infinite mercies resuscitates and reactivates the snoozing 35 state NMCN state committees and their inspectorate arm, specifically Abia state and Aba in particular.nursingworldnigeria.com

Am just curious, let’s assume you guys catch these quacks, what established legal framework and laws would be used to sanction and prosecute them? Is it the same obsolete NMCN act that we have been crying to have reviewed and revalidated? The Government’s stance on quackery in this obsolete 'Act' needs to be strengthened; there is need for stringent enabling laws to further empower the state NMCN committees to fight quackery. Fines are meant to serve as a deterrent, but when fines lack grave pecuniary penalty or forfeiture, it loses its essence. A fine of N1000 or N2000 in today's economy as stipulated in the NMCN Act is mere mockery. The section on punishment in the NMCN act should be expunged and/or updated to reflect the current economic situation in Nigeria in a bid to act as a deterrent. Nursing deals with the sanctity of human life hence punishment for these crimes against humanity must be commensurate and hefty.

I am certainly looking forward to next weeks' news headlines of '1000 Quack Nurses Arrested in Lagos State', Medical Director arrested for training auxiliary nurses etc, Only such audacious measure as these can stem the tide in the proliferation and breeding of these quacks

Jude Chiedu writes for NursingworldNigeria.com

RELATED: Nursing Council Inspectorate Team to Commence Operation Show Your License

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