Once again, newly employed Healthcare Workers including nurses at the University of Medical Science Teaching Hospital, Ondo have taken to the streets to demand the payment of their accumulated salaries.

 

One of the protesting healthcare provider who requested to remain annonymous said: 

"After series of letters, dialogue, meetings, still no payment till now. We are being owe 4,5,6 months salaries by management of Unimedth Ondo/Akure complex. A meeting was held on Friday that included Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists

 

We ended up by agreeing that we are going on a peaceful protest to Governor's office today with uniforms, scrubs, ward coats and stethoscope on us carrying about 50 placards".

 

" We also involved TV stations, Newspapers were informed to cover us, and sent letters to the Police in Akure, Civil defence to follow us during the protest"

 

"We have a letter with us that we want to deliver to the governor alone, one on one, the management seems clueless so we have to see the governor ourselves, 6months unpaid salary in this current economy, licence registration, rents and lots have waiting and it’s not like we are not working, they have just chosen to keep using us”.

 

"The SSG later came out to address us after more than an hour of protest. He promised that he would talk with the State Governor who was not around at the moment. He also promised that they would pay us within 24-48 hours".

 

"We had a brief meeting immediately opposite the Governor's office gate and concluded that we are starting strike immediately and we would only resume once we receive alerts of all our arrears".

 

“we are scared, it seems as if the money was not even there, like we were not accounted for, you can imagine that we have 4,5,6 months thats are unpaid for over 200 workers, it’s worrisome”.

 

Nurse Nene of Nursingworld Nigeria when spoken to about this protest and the unpaid status of these new nurses said: "It's quite frustrating that as we look forward to celebrating nursing in #2020 using the #nursingnow 2020 platform, these #nurses are going to enter the #NewYear being owed between 4 to 6 months salaries. This isnt fair to our collegues who are fathers, mothers, sisters, aunts and uncles. The state Government needs to do the needful here".