Nurses at the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, Ogun State, staged a protest on Wednesday, alleging their exclusion from the 2023 promotion exercise within the institution.
The nurses, operating under the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, voiced their discontent with what they perceived as harsh working conditions, urging the hospital management to address concerns related to promotion arrears, staff shortages, and other rights.
During the peaceful protest on the hospital’s premises, the aggrieved nurses were observed singing and carrying placards conveying messages such as “Stop selective promotion,” “Nurses workload is enough for promotion,” “Nurses’ lives matter,” “Give us our promotion,” and “Improve nurses’ working environment.”
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Chairman of NANNM, FMC Abeokuta chapter, Olufimilola Adekunle, explained that the protest aimed to demand the papers of the promotional examination, which the hospital asserted the nurses had failed.
Adekunle highlighted the exhaustion and overwork experienced by many nurses due to acute manpower shortages in the hospital, expressing frustration over the lack of response to their requests for remuneration for the extended working hours.
Adekunle emphasized, “We are tired, we are really tired. Before we used to do three shifts, but because of the shortage, we have to collapse it to two shifts. We have written to the management several times for remuneration for this long hours work we are doing but no response.”
In response to the protest, Dr. Kunle Adediran, the Head of Clinical Services at the hospital, clarified that the issue concerning the promotion was beyond the management’s control, as the decision was made by the Federal Ministry of Health.
He assured the nurses that the hospital would write to the Federal Government to review the decisions and address the raised concerns, including those related to the promotion.
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