Nigeria Content Online

Medical activities at the State
Specialist Hospital, Benin City, were disrupted for several hours on
Tuesday, as health workers staged a peaceful protest to press home
their demand for the implementation of COMESS and COHESS, which has
been the subject matter of a simmering disagreement between the
government and the health workers.

Some civil society groups in the state
had convened a town hall meeting some weeks back to broker peace
between the health workers and the state government, culminating in the
suspension of the two-month-old industrial action.

The workers, which include doctors,
nurses, medical laboratory technicians, and hospital administrators,
also decided to seek spiritual solution to end the lingering salary
imbroglio by organising fasting and prayer sessions within the hospital
premises.

All of the protesters, who blew on
whistles intermittently to elicit public support, embarked on a protest
that flowed from the hospital through the Ring Road to the state House
of Assembly where they made a brief stop over, and then moved on to the
Airport Road and Exzoti Street, and back to the hospital.

Chairman of the Joint Action Committee,
Hospital Management Board, Stanley Ehiarianwian, said the strike became
necessary as all avenues to dialogue with the government appear to have
failed to yield a positive result.

“It was in good faith that we suspended
the strike because we wanted the suffering masses of Edo State to
access health care. But even as it is now, there are cases of
victimisation. We believe that the government has not been serious
about the negotiation. It is about the 9th week now, and nothing has
been achieved,” he said.

When asked if they sought the
intervention of the state House of Assembly on the matter, Mr.
Ehiarianwian said, “The House of Assembly represents various
constituencies in Edo State. It is unfortunate that under matter of
urgent public importance, that the hospitals were closed for six weeks,
there was no time the House of Assembly thought it as something that
was serious.”

Interested in negotiations

The Edo State commissioner for health,
Moses Momoh, however, said the negotiation between the government and
the health workers is still ongoing, but disputed the workers’ claim
that the government was not serious about the negotiation.

He argued that no state in the
federation has commenced implementation of the COMESS and COHESS, as
directed by the federal government, because of the financial
implication.

He, however, appealed to the aggrieved
workers for peace and more time to enable the government compute the
financial involvement.

Meanwhile, the state governor, Adams
Oshiomhole, has charged local councils in the state to embark on
projects that would benefit the people of the state and complement the
efforts of the state government in its efforts to develop the state.

Mr. Oshiomhole, who was represented by
his deputy, Pius Odubu, made the call when he commissioned N70 million
projects executed by Egor local government council.

The state governor called on council
chairmen to work more in the area of health, education, and roads, to
make life more meaningful for the people in rural areas.