The University graduate of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA), the professional association of nurses with a minimum qualification of Bachelor degree in nursing has reported the CDCFIB to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) over the ill-treatment meted on its members by the Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI). The wordings of the letter, Ref No. UG/NAT/20/FMOH/01 dated 24th March 2020, which was addressed to the Honourable Minister of Health with attention to the Director, Human Resource FMOH and copied to the Director,
Nursing Services FMOH, is hereby reproduced below:
The
Honourable Minister of Health,
Federal
Ministry of Health (FMOH),
New
Federal Secretariat Complex,
Phase
III, Ahmadu Bello Way,
Central
Business District,
P.M.B
083, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria.
Attention:
The
Director, Human Resource FMOH,
A PASSIONATE APPEAL FOR
YOUR URGENT INTERVENTION TO END THE PERENNIAL INJUSTICES NURSES SUFFER IN THE
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
Nightingales
greetings from our members!
We
highly commend the proactive and astute effort of the Federal Ministry of
Health (FMOH) towards tackling the novel coronavirus disease (COVID – 19)
pandemic that recently berthed in Nigeria. We also commend the inclination of
the FMOH under your watch to fostering sense of equity, fairness and
inclusiveness among our healthcare professionals to strengthen the harmonious
work relationship the Ministry has diligently promoted in our healthcare
delivery system.
2. However, we wish to call to the
attention of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), the perennial ill-treatment
nurses have received and are still receiving from the Federal Ministry of
Interior (FMOI), which is grossly at variance with the efforts of the FMOH to
foster sense of belonging, equity, inclusiveness and fairness among our
healthcare team.
3. As at date, the FMOI, through its
parastatals [the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services
Board (CDCFIB)], has singled out Registered Nurses (RN) with Bachelor of
Nursing Science (BNSc) degree as the only university graduates of the core
healthcare disciplines to be placed under the inspectorate cadre whereas the
university graduates of other core health disciplines are placed on the
superintendent cadre.
4.
In the year 2018, when we noticed the
ugly occurrence in an advert for recruitment made by the CDCFIB for recruitment
into the Prisons Service (now Correctional Service) we initially thought it was
a mistake, possibly made out of lack of adequate information on the extant
placement of RN with BNSc degree in the Federation’s Services by those at the
helms of affair in the board (CDCFIB).
5.
In the said advert (made vide Daily
Trust Newspaper of Monday 30 April, 2018)
the position for all Registered Nurses (RN), including RN with BNSc
degree, was listed in the inspectorate cadre as Inspector of Prison (IP) Nursing
, CONHESS 06 whereas the University
Graduates of other core healthcare disciplines such as Medicine and Pharmacy
were listed in the superintendent cadre as Superintendent of Prison (SP)
Medical/ veterinary,
CONMESS 02 (respectively for medical and
veterinary Doctors) and as Deputy Superintendent of Prison (DSP) Pharmacy,
CONHESS 09 (for Pharmacists) [Please kindly refer Annexure A for the said
Correctional Service job Advert].
6.
Giving them the benefit of doubt that it
was not intentionally done, we humbly approached the FMOI and the CDCFIB {vide
our letter Ref No. UGONSA/018/FMOI/01 dated 18th May, 2018} and the Nigerian
Correctional Service (then Nigerian Prisons Service) {vide our letter Ref No.
UGONSA/NAT/19/CG/NPS/01 dated 4th March, 2019} with detailed
explanation of the extant placement of RN with BNSc degree in the Federation’s
services praying for correction of the mistake of not listing RN with BNSc
degree on the Superintendent cadre as was done for the University Graduates of
other core healthcare professions.
7.
The Nigerian Correctional Service in her
response to our letter {vide Ref No. NPS 114/S.33/1/86 dated 25th June, 2019}
acknowledged that our demand was genuine but averred that it has forwarded our
complaint, for the necessary action, to the CDCFIB on whose purview it lies to
make the correction. [Please kindly refer to the Nigerian Correctional
Service’s response hereby attached as Annexure B].
8.
As we awaited the correction from the
FMOI, having written them a reminder {vide our letter Ref No.UG/NAT/19/ FMOI/01
dated 4th March, 2019}, came the unequivocal confirmation that the earlier
action of the CDCFIB [whereby all Registered Nurses (RN), including RN with
BNSc degree, were listed in the inspectorate cadre in the Nigerian Correctional
Service job advert], was not a mistake but a deliberate plot not to obey the
extant law, rules and regulations as it concerns the placement of nurses with
degree in nursing in the Services of the Federation.
9.
This is because in August 2019, the
CDCFIB made another advert (this time for recruitment into the Nigerian
Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC , online via their website https://cdfipb.careers/jobs/civil-defence)
in which [despite the unambiguous clarifications we have made to them] they
also listed all registered nurses, including the University Graduates of
Nursing Science (.i.e RN with BNSc degree), under the inspectorate cadre
whereas the University Graduates of other core healthcare disciplines so
advertised were listed in the superintendent cadre.
10. For
example, in the advert Medical Doctors, Dentist and Optometrist (who are all
University Graduates like the RN with BNSc degree) were listed in the Category
A [.i.e. the superintendent cadre] as Superintendent Corps (SC) Medical
Doctors/ Dentist/ Optometrists, CONMESS 02 respectively whereas their
counterparts in nursing [the University Graduates of Nursing Science, i.e. RN
with BNSc) were listed in the Category B (.i.e. the inspectorate cadre) as
Inspector of Corps (IC) CONHESS 07. [Please kindly refer Annexure C for the
NSCDC job advert].
11. Not
deterred by their confirmed deliberate action of wanton marginalization and
debasement of our dear nursing profession, we once more respectfully approached
the CDCFIB {vide our letter Ref No. UG/NAT/19/CG/ CDFIBP /02 dated 19th August,
2019} with all the extant circulars requesting them to obey the extant law and
be fair to the graduate nurses by placing them on the same superintendent cadre
where they placed the university graduates of other core healthcare
disciplines.
12. To
ensure that the matter was not again swept under the carpet we reported it to
the current Minister of Interior vide our letter to him shortly after his
inauguration {Ref No. UG/NAT/19/FMOI/02 dated 30th September, 2019}.
13. Despite all the well-documented efforts we
have made to make the CDCFIB [and the Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI) that oversees
it] to do the right thing, it is becoming clearer that they are more inclined
to breaking the law than obeying it for inexplicable reasons other than that
the people involved are nurses, who in their own resolve must be marginalized,
traumatized and debased because of their professional leaning.
14. This
is evident in the latest advert made by the CDCFIB on March 13th,
2020 for recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) via the NIS
website, https://immigration.gov.ng/advertisement-for-vacancies/,
where they again listed the University Graduates of other core healthcare
professions on the superintendent cadre except the university Graduates of
Nursing Science [please kindly refer Annexure D for the current CDCFIB advert
for recruitment into NIS].
15. With
the latest repetition of such aberrant and provocative act of willfully
portraying the nursing degree as subservient to other degrees in the current
advert for employment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), despite
having been adequately informed about the right thing, we are hereby crying out
very loudly that we have lost hope and trust in the commitment or ability of
the Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI) and the Civil Defence, Correctional,
Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) to rise above pettiness or
primordial sentiments and elaborate equity & fairness to all Nigerians
irrespective of professional leanings.
16. It
is incontrovertible that whatever qualified the University Graduates of other
core healthcare professions to ply the superintendent cadre also qualifies
their counterparts in nursing to ply same cadre. On the alternative, the CDCFIB
and the FMOI should furnish us with information on what qualified the
university degree of other core healthcare professions to ply their
superintendent cadre that does not qualify the university degree of nursing to
ply same cadre.
17. It is pertinent to point out for example, that
the fact that both professions of Nursing and Pharmacy are on parity in Nigeria
as is the case in Great Britain (Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) Award,
1981) and admission requirements & course duration for both nursing and
pharmacy for the first degree in the university are similar, portends that the
first degrees of both professions [i.e. Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) and the
Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNSc)] shall be accorded similar measure in the
schemes of things.
18. The
hope of our deeply traumatized members now lie on our mother Ministry, the FMOH
as our defender of last resort, who has been with us through thick and thin to
make a timely intervention and save the nursing profession from the unwarranted
brutality, debasement and marginalization at the hands of the FMOI and the
CDCFIB which our members now find extremely difficult to endure any longer.
PRAYER
We
most passionately pray the Ministry of Health, our mother Ministry, to
intervene on behalf of the graduate nurses that have been severely
shortchanged, without reprieve, by the Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI) and
the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB)
vide placement, remuneration, and career progression, by engaging and urging
the FMOI and CDCFIB to
1 1. employ
the university graduates of nursing (.i.e. RN possessing B.N.Sc/B.Sc.Nursing
degree) on the superintendent cadre as is done for the university graduates of
other core healthcare disciplines.
2 2. correct
the career pathway of the graduate nurses already employed in the Civil
Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services from the inspectorate to
the superintendent cadre.
3 3. implement
Grade Level 09 as the entry point for Registered Nurses (RN) possessing
B.N.Sc/B.Sc.Nursing degree in line with the provision of the extant circulars of the Nigerian Government.
4 4. upgrade
to Grade Level 09 the existing Nurse Officers possessing B.N.Sc/B.Sc.Nursing
degree who were employed before 8th September, 2016 but are still below the new base of Grade
Level 09 effective from 8th September, 2016 (being the date of
release of the circular REF No. HCSF/EIR/CND/S.100/ST/97 by the office of the
Head of Civil Service of the Federation) as prescribed by the civil service
circular, Ref No. B63279/S.7/II/T/273 dated 24th April, 2002.
5 5. upgrade
all graduate nurses (i.e. RN with B.N.Sc/B.Sc.Nursing degree) who were wrongly
employed below the new base of Grade Level 09 after 8th September, 2016 to
Grade Level 09 effective from the date of their employment as prescribed by the
civil service circular, Ref No. B63279/S.7/II/T/273 dated 24th April, 2002.
List of
Annexures
A.
Annexure A: Advert for recruitment
into Nigerian Correctional Service (formerly Nigerian Prisons Service) made by
the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB)
on Daily Trust Newspaper of Monday 30 April, 2018.
B.
Annexure B: The Nigerian
Correctional Service response to UGONSA request for Proper Placement of
graduate nurses {vide Ref No. NPS 114/S.33/1/86 dated 25th June, 2019}.
E.
Annexure E: UGONSA letter to
the Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI) and the CDCFIB on proper placement of
graduate nurses {vide letter Ref No. UGONSA/018/FMOI/01 dated 18th May, 2018}
F.
Annexure F: UGONSA letter to
the Nigerian Correctional Service
(then Nigerian Prisons Service) on Proper Placement of graduate nurses {vide
letter Ref No. UGONSA/NAT/19/CG/NPS/01 dated 4th March, 2019}
G.
Annexure G: UGONSA reminder
to the FMOI on proper placement of
graduate nurses {vide letter Ref No.UG/NAT/19/ FMOI/01 dated 4th March, 2019}.
H.
Annexure H: UGONSA complaint
to the CDCFIB on CBCFIB’s breach of
extant law in its advert for recruitment into NSCDC {vide letter Ref No.
UG/NAT/19/CG/ CDFIBP /02 dated 19th August, 2019}.
I.
Annexure I: UGONSA
complaint to the current Federal Minister of Interior on breaching the extant
law by the CDCFIB on placement of graduate nurses {vide letter Ref No.
UG/NAT/19/FMOI/02 dated 30th September, 2019}.
J.
Annexure J: Circular, Ref No. HCSF/EIR/CND/S.100/ST/97
dated September 8, 2016 from the office of the Head of Civil Service of the
Federation (HCSF).
K.
Annexure K: Circular, Ref
No.C6093/T/13 dated 19th June, 2017, from Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH).
L.
Annexure L: Circular Ref No.
C.6093/T/16 dated February 20, 2018 from FMOH
M.
Annexure M: Circular Ref No. C2920/5.3/C.2/1/155
dated 5th February, 2019 from the FMOH.
N.
Annexure N: Circular, Ref
No. B63279/S.7/II/T/273 dated 24th April, 2002 from the office of the HCSF.
O.
Annexure O: A letter by the
FMOH to a Chief Medical Director (CMD) on entry point placement of graduate
nurses on Grade Level 09.
P.
Annexure P: The
Implementation Guide for Internship Programme for graduates of B.N.Sc degree
from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), the statutory
regulatory body for nursing in Nigeria.
Q.
Annexure Q: Industrial
Arbitration Panel (IAP) award of the year 1981, which granted that the
profession of Nursing is on parity with that of Pharmacy in Nigeria, as is the
case in Great Britain from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria
Signed
CHIEF (HON.)
S.E.O. EGWUENU NURSE P.O. ETENG
National President Ag. National
Secretary
CC:
Director, Nursing Services, Federal Ministry of
Health (FMOH)
