CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR: UGONSA HAILS NIGERIAN NURSES AS “RESILIENT AND COURAGEOUS”

  

The University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA) in her end of the year and New Years’ message has described Nigerian nurses as “resilient and courageous”.

In a statement jointly signed by the National President, Chief (Hon.) S.E.O. Egwuenu, and the Ag. National Secretary, Nur. P.O. Eteng, the association averred that although the event of the year 2020 exposed the rots in our health system it however confirmed nursing as the pillar on which care delivery resides.

"The year 2020 designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the year of the nurses to celebrate the 200th year anniversary of the birth of the founding mother of modern nursing, Nur. Florence Nightingale, turned out to be a year of COVID-19 pandemic that exposed how ill-equipped the Nigerian healthcare delivery system is.

"Despite poor remuneration, lack of life insurance, and absence of basic Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) nurses proved to be the most reliable workforce of the century. They maintained an unequaled high-spirit, and selflessly confronted the dreaded virus with some paying the ultimate price when others took safety cover in their abodes. For all the altruistic care given to the masses, we say thank you! For our departed colleagues, we pray to the Almighty God to grant their souls eternal rest, Amen!

"As an association, the year 2020 was an eventful year for us. Efforts were targeted at changing the negative narratives of Nigerian nurses; several consultations and lobbying were made at different levels to achieve positive outcomes. The association is ever focused on working for the good of the nursing profession.

"Despite  challenges from within and outside we assure Nigerian Nurses that brighter days are ahead; where we are today is better than where we use to be;  by the grace of God tomorrow shall be better than today.

 To every Nigerian Nurse we charge that you remain an exemplary ambassador of the nursing profession, wherever your life interest may lead; never cease to preach and elaborate Love & Unity; continue to treat every Patient as a King or a Queen for they are the very reason for our existence. 

"Our slogan remains “make a positive change” to remind us that we must make positive impacts wherever we found ourselves.

"We wish to also felicitate with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigerian (NMCN), the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), the Nigerian Universities Nursing Students' Association (NUNSA), the National Association of Nigerian Student Nurses & Midwives (NANSNM) and other stakeholders in the nursing profession for their various roles in ensuring that Nigerian nurses claim their rightful place among other professions in the health sector. 

We hereby appeal to you all, both individual nurses and nursing groups to always put the Nursing Profession first above any personal interest at every truest moment. As we hope for a positive outcome on the Proper Placement of RN with BNSc degree, we enjoin all stakeholders to see this a priority of the profession and throw all the necessary weights behind it to see it succeed. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2021!

UGONSA....... Make a Positive Change!!!!

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UGONSA TO NKANTA – CHEWS ARE THE PROFESSIONAL BANDITS AND NOT NURSES

 

Nurses under the aegis of University Graduates of Nursing Science Association has replied a retired Deputy Director of Health of Akwa Ibom State, Comrade Idoboise Nkanta, who said that nurses should not be allowed to work at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and who described the presence of nurses at the PHCs as “Professional Banditry”.

In response to Comrade Nkata who had asserted that the Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWS) are authorized by law to prescribe drugs and treat illness like the Medical Doctors, UGONSA lamented that it was unfortunate that Nkanta, who is a CHEW tutor and a senior member of the CHEW community, choose to elevate idiocy to a ridiculous level.

In a statement by its National President and Ag. National Secretary, Chief (Hon) S.E.O. Egwuenu and Nurse P.O. Eteng, UGONSA said that Comrade Nkata as a CHEW tutor has unwittingly revealed that what they teach the CHEWs is that they are Medical Doctors of the “Communities” who are authorized by the law to prescribe and treat.

“No wonder the CHEWs are acting with impunity doing the work of the Nurses, the work of Pharmacists, the work of Medical Laboratory Scientists, the work of the Optometrists, the work of the Radiographers and the work of Medical Doctors, including doing surgeries, and in the process butchering Nigerians and sending many to an untimely grave”.

“In a saner society by now Comrade Nkata would have been behind bars for owing-up and admitting to the atrocities they have been carrying out against the health of the Nigerian public through illegal prescriptions and treatments”.

“All over the world, there is no place the Community Health Extension Workers is counted among the healthcare providers or allowed to do the work of the healthcare providers. But in Nigeria, the likes of Nkata is bold to write in the print media that CHEWs are empowered by the law to “prescribe and treat” and that the nurses are “professional bandits” who should not be allowed near their own home, the Primary Healthcare System.

“Globally, nursing is the cornerstone and heartbeat of the healthcare delivery system be it primary, secondary or tertiary healthcare delivery system. Nurses are not only among the frontline healthcare providers but are the central coordinating element of care that organizes the health system and other healthcare providers for efficient and effective care delivery such that if the healthcare delivery system is likened to a home, nurses would be said to be the mothers of the healthcare delivery system.

“All over the world, nurses do not need an introduction in the healthcare delivery system for people to understand who they are or what they do. It is the CHEWs that need an introduction because they are strangers in the healthcare delivery system who out of banditry are venturing into niches that were never meant for them in the Nigerian health system doing the work of the main healthcare providers which they never received training or license for.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) succinctly spelled out the role of the Community Health Workers like the CHEWs as “creating liaison (connections) between vulnerable populations and healthcare providers”. Unfortunately, it is only in Nigeria that the CHEW has abandoned their primary role as a “liaison” between vulnerable populations and the healthcare providers to become the healthcare providers themselves with the brazen impetus of calling nurses (the central coordinating healthcare providers) bandits in their own home (the healthcare delivery system).

UGONSA noted that prior to the invasion by the CHEWS, the Nigerian health system was ranked among the best in the world such that the Saudi Royal family sought treatment from the Nigerian Health System.

“Today the once-booming Nigerian Health system is in shamble because interlopers like the CHEWS have usurped the position of nurses by abandoning their roles as “liaison officers” for nursing practice which they never received education for, trained for, or licensed to practice.

“Ironically it is not only nursing practice that they have invaded. They have also invaded the roles of the Nigerian Medical Doctors who created them to spite the nurses.

“Today, the CHEWs do not only prescribe and treat as confessed by Nkata but also carryout surgical operations. Not recognizing any professional boundary they also intrude on the roles other healthcare professions such as Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Science, Optometry, and so on.

“The
reason, why they engage in this Professional banditry with audacity, is not far-fetch. Their tutors in the likes of Comrade Nkata teach them not only that they are superior to Nurses but that they are all the healthcare providers rolled into one who can render all the healthcare services such as diagnosis, prescription, treatment, nursing care, drug dispensary and so on.

“Alas, in the communities, they are now the Surgeon, the Physician, the Nurse, the Pharmacist, the Lab Scientist, the Radiographer, and the Optometrist all rolled in one such that they now wish that nurses are ostracized from the health system to the extent of having the effrontery to describe the presence of Nurses in the healthcare system as “professional banditry”.

UGONSA said that Nkata’s revelation of the decimation by the CHEWs of professional boundaries of healthcare delivery of the Nigerian health system is a wake-up call for the overhaul of the entire health system in line with international best practices. The association called on the Federal Ministry of Health to as a matter of urgency retrieve from the CHEWS the standing orders which they have misconstrued and mischaracterized as authority to “prescribe & treat” and which they now use as a free ticket to butcher life out of Nigerians via mismanagement of medico-nursing procedures they were not trained or licensed to perform.

“It is time to overhaul the Primary Healthcare system of Nigeria to operate in line with international best standard where Community Health Workers are liaisons between the vulnerable populations and the healthcare providers and not the healthcare providers themselves as the CHEWs arrogate to be in Nigeria” – the statement said. 

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UGONSA TASKS NEW PERM SEC FMOI TO ADDRESS SYSTEMIC INJUSTICE METED ON NURSES BY THE MINISTRY

 

In a congratulatory letter Ref No.UG/NAT/20/PS/FMOI/01 dated October 12, 2020, the University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA) had tasked the new Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI) to address the age-long systemic injustice meted on nurses in terms of Placement, promotion and career progression by the Ministry. The texts of the letter are as posted below:

Dr Shuaib Muhammad Belgore,
The Permanent Secretary,
Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI),
Block F, Old Federal Secretariat, 

Area 1, P.M.B. 7007, Garki, Abuja.

Sir,

NURSES CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR DESERVED APPOINTMENT AS THE PERMANENT SECRETARY FEDERAL MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AND PASSIONATELY IMPLORE YOU TO URGENTLY INTERVENE TO END THE PERENNIAL INJUSTICES NURSES SUFFER IN THE MINISTRY

We are delighted to extend our warm Nightingalic congratulations to you over your recent appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to serve the country in another great capacity as the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI). It was the special vigour and hard work you elaborated in the past in other realms of service to the country that paved way for your elevation to this new post to help the country solve its internal challenges that are growing in complexity at this auspicious moment in our national life. We give all glory to God for this positive development and wish you every success in your new assignment.

2.      However, we wish to draw your esteemed attention to perennial injustice nurses have suffered in the Ministry of Interior for your urgent intervention.

3.      We make haste to call your esteemed attention to this injustice because of the inclination that neither you nor President Muhammadu Buhari (who appointed you to this post) condones or adulates injustice and marginalization.

4.      As at date, the FMOI is the only Federal Ministry that is yet to implement extant circulars with regard to placement, promotion and career progression of nurses. We have approached the FMOI and the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) on several occasions to right the wrongs yet no reprieve in sight. The passivity of the FMOI towards doing the rightful and lawful thing for the nursing profession was so frustrating that we have to approach the Federal Ministry of Health (our mother ministry) for intervention. Despite the FMOH reaching out to the FMOI requesting that the FMOI implement the extant circulars for nurses vide its letter Ref No. C.6093/12/74 dated 26^th August, 2020 (herewith marked and attached as Annexure A) we are yet to hear from the FMOI or the CDCFIB or see anything from their stable.

5.      To enable you comprehensively understand and appreciate the subject matter, we are going to summarize the problem and then chronicle our historic tortuous past efforts at getting the FMOI, the CDCFIB and the services under them to obey the law of the very Federal Government they serve vis-à-vis implementation of the lawful extant circulars on placement, promotion and career progression of nurses. We therefore appeal to you to kindly find time to read through this letter and its entire annexures.

6.      The crux of the matter is that the FMOI, through its parastatals [the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB)], inexplicably 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 healthcare disciplines are placed on the superintendent cadre. This has resulted in an uncanny situation whereby candidates not possessing a minimum of first degree in nursing as required by law are heading nursing units (the equivalent of directorate cadre in the Civil Service) despite that the eligibility for attaining such level is sine qua non of possession of a minimum of first degree in nursing as nursing is a profession of its own (sui generis) allied to no other profession and with no other profession allied to it.

7.      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).

8.      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 B for the said Correctional Service job Advert].

9.      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 4^th 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.

10.  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 C].

11.  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 as pertains to placement of nurses with degree in nursing in the Services of the Federation.

12.  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 yet further listed all Registered Nurses (RN), 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 equally advertised were listed in the superintendent cadre.

13.  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 D for the NSCDC job advert].

14.  Not deterred by the 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.

15.  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}.

16.   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 rightful and lawful thing, it is becoming clearer that there is an incomprehensible inclination to breaking the law than obeying it for inexplicable reasons other than that the people involved are nurses, who in the thinking or out of primordial sentiments of some top wigs in the FMOI & CDCFIB should be marginalized, traumatized, debased and treated as if they are second class citizens of this great country because of their professional leaning.

17.  This is especially as the most recent advert made by the CDCFIB on March 13^th, 2020 for recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) via the NIS website, https://immigration.gov.ng/advertisement-for-vacancies/, 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 E for the most recent CDCFIB advert for recruitment into NIS made this year, 2020].

18.  With the repetition of such aberrant and provocative act of willfully portraying the nursing degree as subservient to other degrees in this year’s advert for employment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), despite having been adequately informed about the right thing, we were compelled to seek the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH, (our mother Ministry) to speak truth to the FMOI and CDCFIB, hence the FMOH’s memo to the FMOI (attached herewith as Annexure A).

19.  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 the same cadre. If not so, we would appreciate that the CDCFIB and the FMOI furnish us with information on what qualified the university degree of other core healthcare professions to ply the superintendent cadre that does not qualify the university degree of nursing to ply the same cadre.

20.   It is pertinent to point out that the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) Award of the year 1981 (hereby attached as Annexure L) was unequivocal in its declaration that Nursing is a profession Sui Generis and that both professions of Nursing and Pharmacy are on parity in Nigeria as is the case in Great Britain. Corollary, the fact that the admission requirements & course duration for both Nursing and Pharmacy for the first degree in the university are similar, confers 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. 

21.  For the eligibility of heading a nursing unit in the CDCFIB services (akin to a Director of Nursing heading the Nursing Unit in the mainstream Civil Service), the Nursing & Midwifery Council of Nigeria, NMCN, (the statutory regulatory body for the nursing in Nigeria), the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) had astutely maintained that nursing a unique profession on and of its own globally (sui generis) allied to no other profession and with no other profession allied to it and have variously averred vide many extant circulars and memos that whoever MUST ply the directorate cadre of Nursing vis-à-vis head a nursing unit MUST possess a minimum of first degree in nursing (.i.e BNSc/B.Sc Nursing) [Kindly refer the documents marked and attached as Annexure F, G, H, I, J & K].

22.  It defies comprehension how the FMOI which ordinarily should be the avatar of rule of law turned out to be the only Ministry running afoul of the law as it concerns placement, promotion and career progression of nurses. Changing this ugly narrative in your tenure as the Permanent Secretary, FMOI, will be an indelible landmark the nursing profession shall never cease to reference. 

23.  As we gleefully welcome and celebrate your appointment as the Permanent Secretary, FMOI, we wish to emphasize that the hope of our deeply traumatized members now lie on your donning a patriotic fatherly garb to do justice to all Nigerians irrespective of professional or any other leaning and thus humbly request that you make haste to salvage the nursing profession from the age-long unwarranted brutality, debasement and marginalization suffered in the hand of the FMOI and the CDCFIB, which our members now find extremely difficult to endure any longer.

PRAYER

We most fervently pray that you use your God-given new position as the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Interior (FMOI) to prevail on the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) to do the rightful and lawful thing for the nursing profession vide deployment of due process in the placement, remuneration, and career progression of nurses under its services, by seeing that it

     1.  employs 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.  corrects 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.   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 (see Annexure A page 3 & 4).

       4.  upgrade to Grade Level 09 the existing Nurse Officers possessing B.N.Sc/B.Sc.Nursing degree who were employed before 8^th September, 2016  but are still below the new base of Grade Level 09 effective from 8^th 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 24^th April, 2002 (See Annexure A page 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 (See Annexure A page 5).

       6.  limits the headship of nursing unit to only candidates possessing a minimum of first degree in nursing as prescribed by law and done for other core healthcare professions such as Medicine, Pharmacy, and Medical Laboratory Science.

Please, accept our heartfelt Congratulations!

                                                                           Signed:

 

         CHIEF (HON.) S.E.O. EGWUENU                                          NURSE P.O. ETENG

            National President                                                                Ag.National Secretary

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UGONSA CONGRATULATES FAROUK ABUBAKAR ON REAPPOINTMENT AS THE REGISTRAR NMCN

 UGONSA has sent a congratulatory message to the Registrar Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), Nurse Farouk Abubakar Umar, on his recent reappointment for a second term by the Federal Government. The message was conveyed vide its letter Ref No. UG/NAT/20/NMCN/03 dated September 18, 2020. Below is the full text of the letter:

Nurse Farouk Abubakar Umar,

The Registrar/Secretary,

Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN),

Plot 713, Cadastral Zone Life Camp, Life Camp District, Gwarimpa, Abuja,

Nigeria.

Sir,

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RECENT REAPPOINTMENT AS THE REGISTRAR NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL OF NIGERIA (NMCN)

The University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA), the professional association of nurses with a minimum qualification of first degree in nursing, wishes to extend its warmest congratulations to you on your reappointment as the Registrar NMCN.

2.     For the government of the land to have renewed your appointment for a second term is a worthy testament that you diligently served the purpose for which you were appointed for the first term.

3.     While some new envelopes of uncertainties are interlinking with old ones we hope that you continue to work for the marginal appreciation of the fortunes of our dear profession.

4.     As we look forward to a close and good cooperation with the NMCN in pursuing and promoting progressive agenda for the profession in your second tenure, we pray our Almighty God to grant you the spirit of wisdom, understanding, compassion and truth to lead us into a prosperous profession.

                                                           Signed

CHIEF (HON.) S.E.O. EGWUENU      NURSE P.O. ETENG

National President                                  Ag.National Secretary

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EXCLUSION OF NURSE INTERNS BY UNIABUJATH: UGONSA SEEKS INTERVENTION OF THE FMOH

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

Director of Human Resources, FMOH,

                          &

Director of Nursing Services, FMOH,

Sir,

CONTINUOUS EXCLUSION OF NURSE INTERNS FROM INTERNSHIP TRAINING BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA TEACHING HOSPITAL: A REQUEST FOR YOUR URGENT FATHERLY INTERVENTION

Members of this association comprising nurses with a minimum qualification of first degree in nursing immensely appreciate the superlative fairness of the Federal Ministry of Health under your able watch to nurses and the nursing profession. However, we wish to emphasize that inordinate actions of some hospital managements obviously rooted in primordial sentiments and bias against the nursing profession have not allowed the good intention of the ministry to percolate well to the grassroots of the healthcare delivery system.

     2. A case in point is the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital that has refused to include the fresh graduate nurses in its internship training programme four years aft
er the circular for the graduate nurses’ internship was released despite that we have repeatedly served them the internship circular and the guideline from the FMOH for the implementation of the internship.

      3.    We were appalled to see them again single out only the nurse interns for exclusion among all the prospective interns of the core healthcare professions in their 2020 Internship Recruitment Examination scheduled to take place on September 9 & 10, 2020 (Please kindly refer the attached document for evidence of the exclusion).

     4.     Such inexplicable and unjustifiable exclusion negates the sense of equity and fairness the FMOH has done much to foster among the healthcare professionals.

We therefore humbly implore your urgent fatherly intervention and direction of the management of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital to tow the line of the FMOH and show equity and fairness by including the prospective nurse interns in the current Internship Recruitment Exercise.

                                                                           Signed:

 

         CHIEF (HON.) S.E.O. EGWUENU                                         NURSE P.O. ETENG

            National President                                                               Ag.National Secretary

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PURPORTED MOVE TO PROMOTE ALLIED TO DIRECTORS OF NURSING: UGONSA WRITES UCH MANAGEMENT

The news that UCH Ibadan is making stealth move to promote ineligible candidates as Directors of Nursing under the mask of "Courses Allied to Nursing"  has prompted UGONSA to write the UCH management. The letter, Ref No. UG/NAT/20/CMD/UCH/01 dated August 3, 2020, gave clarification on eligibility for plying the Directorate Cadre of Nursing. Below are

the wordings of the letter:

The Chief Medical Director,

University College Hospital (UCH),

Ibadan, Oyo State.

Attention:

Director of Administration, UCH,

                    &

Head of Nursing Services, UCH.

Sir/Madam,

CLARIFICATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR DIRECTORSHIP IN NURSING: BNSc/BSc NURSING IS THE MINIMUM QUALIFICATION FOR ATTAINING THE DIRECTORATE CADRE IN NURSING: NO PROFESSION IS ALLIED TO NURSING AND NURSING IS ALLIED TO NO OTHER PROFESSION

Nightingales’ greetings from our members comprising nurses with a minimum qualification of first degree in Nursing!

2. The report reaching us that your hospital is about to promote some ineligible candidates to the directorate cadre of Nursing, on the basis that they possess degrees “allied” to nursing, prompted our reaching out to you for succinct clarification on eligibility for directorship in nursing.

3. It is our considered belief that some mischievous persons might have misled the management of our respected UCH to embark on such an unconscionable voyage which utterly conflicts with the prevailing laws and extant rules guiding promotions to the directorate cadre of nursing, hence the need to formally call the attention of the management to the extant provisions.

4. The nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), the statutory regulatory body for nursing in Nigeria, and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) had verily clarified via several memos and circulars, that nursing is a profession on its own recognized nationally and internationally and is not allied to or with any profession, and that eligibility for promotion to the directorate cadre in nursing is sine qua non of possession of first degree in nursing (Kindly refer the documents marked and attached as Annexure A, B & C).

5. The Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) had also affirmed the position of the NMCN and FMOH with circulars such as the one released after the 36th National Council on Establishment (NCE) meeting held in Akure, Ondo State, in the year 2012 that led to vacation of the circular Ref No. CND.100/S.6/Vol II/115 of 1st December 2006, which wrongly imported the term “allied” in the nursing lexicology in Nigeria and the one that was released in the year 2016 after the 39th NCE meeting in Minna, Niger State, which approved a unified scheme of service with the nomenclature “NURSING OFFICER” for all nurses but with an unequivocal caveat that career progression beyond the post of Chief Nursing Officer MUST be subject to acquisition of first degree in nursing   (Kindly refer the documents marked and attached as Annexure C, D & E).

6. To contemplate masking ineligible candidates under the toga of “degrees allied to nursing” for promotion to the directorate cadre of nursing against the statutory dictates that eligibility for such can only and would only be conferred by the possession of first degree in nursing is not only silly and preposterous but an atrocious and bellicose broad day rape on the rule of law that calls for nothing but anarchy.

7. To forestall such ominous dark cloud requires that we verily put the management of your hospital on timely notice that there are no such things as “degrees allied to nursing” just as the nursing degree is not allied to any other degree as the attached referenced documents clearly indicate.

8. While we are not against any nurse aspiring to reach the zenith of his/her career, we are totally against using such to truncate or water down professionalism in nursing as the purveyors of the “allied degree” and their collaborators seem desperate to.

9. We wish to humbly request that you challenge those flying the inordinate kite of  “degrees allied to nursing” in UCH to also furnish you with information on degrees that are allied to other professions such as Medicine, Law, Engineering, Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Science, Physiotherapy, and so on.

10.  Promotion of RN/RM diplomates to directorate cadre of nursing with degrees other than the nursing degree is not only a blatant aberration to all principles of professionalism but an open defecation on the extant laws especially as the so-called “allied courses” have their own separate schemes of service which have never and will never recognize possession of first degree in nursing as eligibility for running their directorate cadres.

11. It patently defies rationality and logic how the purveyors of “degrees allied to nursing” and their promoters come to erroneously conceive that a single degree can grant an individual the eligibility for promotion and career progression in two separate and distinct professions and how they managed to lure the UCH management into such a crooked conception.

12. We therefore courteously call on the management of UCH to immediately abrogate any action or intentions aimed at promoting ineligible candidates to the directorate cadre of nursing and forthwith desist from contemplating such a grievous mistake again in the future as mistakes are meant to be corrected and not to be repeated.

 PRAYER

Having humbly called your esteemed attention to the impervious fact that no profession is allied to nursing, just as nursing is not allied to any other professions; we hereby respectfully call on your esteemed office to

1. immediately void all actions or intentions of wrongful promotions of the so-called “allied degree holders”, into the directorate cadre of nursing.

2. promote only qualified and eligible candidates possessing a minimum of first degree in nursing, .i.e. Bachelor of nursing Science (BNSc) degree or B.Sc Nursing, as prescribed by extant law, into the directorate cadre of nursing.

Please accept the assurances of our esteemed regards.

                               Signed:

CHIEF (HON.) S.E.O. EGWUENU           NURSE P.O. ETEN

 National President                                         Ag.National Secretary

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MURDER OF ENUGU NURSE: NURSES BEG ENUGU GOVERNOR TO RELEASE THEIR MEMBERS

Nurses under the aegis of University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA) have decried the continued incarceration of their members over the alleged murder of former Head, Nursing Services, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital (FNHE), Enugu, Dr. Mrs. Maria Amadi, despite glaring evidence that showed that they had no hand in the death of the woman, especially as the armed robbers who robbed and shot her in the course of robbery, have not only confessed to the crime and recreated how they carried out the operation to the police, but have also been charged to court.

In a statement on Monday by the National President, Chief (Hon). S.E.O. Egwuenu, and Ag.National Secretary, Nurse P.O. Eteng, the association said it does not want to believe the story making the rounds that they are still in detention because Governor Ugwuanyi had influenced the Enugu State judiciary to deploy ‘judicial filibuster’ to keep them perpetually incarcerated, but is simply begging the Governor to release these innocent employees of the FNHE to their families having incarcerated them unjustly for 18 months now for a crime they never committed.

Recall that Late Nurse Maria Amadi was allegedly shot dead on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Federal Housing Estate, Trans-Ekulu, Enugu and the incident led to the arrest and subsequent detention, the next day, of three of her colleagues at the Hospital, namely Mrs. Buzo-Maduka Ruth, Mr. Afam Ndu and Mrs. Achalla Stella, on the allegation that she said before her demise that she suspects people she does not get along with in her place of work to be behind the incident. While Mrs. Buzo-Maduka Ruth and Mr. Afam Ndu (who are nurses and members of UGONSA) are respectively the Principal and Vice-Principal of the School of Post-Basic Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing of the FNHE (School of Nursing), Mrs. Achalla Stella is a Principal Confidential Secretary in the Hospital.

The statement read, “we showed remarkable equanimity when our members were unjustly and hurriedly clamped into detention without any shred of evidence over the unfortunate murder of Late Nurse Maria Amadi. Because we were interested in getting real justice for the deceased and the entire nursing community we went all the way in urging those with useful information regarding the gruesome murder of the late nurse to come forth with such.”

“Fortunately, someone who had useful information, as per who the real culprits are, in the person of Evangelist Tochukwu Obiorah (alias Iko Nso) approached the association. Evangelist Tochukwu Obiorah is not an ordinary person in the Enugu State Security circle. As at the time of the unfortunate incident of the murder of Late Nurse Maria Amadi till now, he is the Assistant State Commander of Enugu State Neighborhood Watch. As  a top-notch leader of Enugu State Neighborhood Watch, he does not only cover the Trans-Ekulu axis where Nurse Maria Amadi was murdered but is also the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Ugboye and Ugbowa neighbourhood Watch in Abakpa-Nike, Enugu and has been a frontline Neighborhood Security Officer in Enugu State for the past 22 years.”

“The useful information provided by Evangelist Tochukwu Obiora led us to petition the Inspector General of police to launch a comprehensive investigation into the matter. A fresh investigation carried out by the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja, led to arrest of three suspected armed robbers that carried out the attack, namely, Chidiebere Ochi, Amandi Ekwo and Uchenna Onuora. The suspects did not only confessed to killing Dr. Mrs. Amadi in the course of robbing her but also recreated for the police how the incident happened.”

“Instructively, the killer armed robbers also made it very clear that nobody contracted them to kill Dr.Amadi and that they do not know any of the FNHE employees who were unjustly accused and arrested over the death of the woman.”

“Following this, the armed robber suspects who shot and killed her were charged to court vide the charge No E/333C/2019, filed against them, before an Enugu High Court, signed by Mr. Celestine Odo, a Superintendent of Police, attached to the Legal/Prosecution Section, Force CID. They were alleged to have committed “armed robbery and murder punishable under Section 1, (2) (a) and (b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010 and Section 274(1) of the Criminal Code.”

Particulars of the offence as contained in the charge read: “Chidiebere Ochi ‘m’, Amandi Ekwo ‘m’ a.k.a. “Pharaoh”, Uchenna Onuora ‘m’ a.k.a. “Amigo” and others now at large on or about the 21st March 2019 at about 1700hrs, at No. 38 Enugu-Ezike Street, Federal Housing Estate, Trans-Ekulu, Enugu, within the Enugu judicial division, while armed with two pistols loaded with ammunitions did rob one late Dr. (Mrs) Maria Amadi of her mobile phone, value yet unknown and an undisclosed sum of money and at the time of the robbery shot her at the lower abdomen and upper thighs. In the count 2, they were said to have committed murder punishable under Section 274(1) of the Criminal Code Cap. 30 Laws of Enugu State of Nigeria, 2004.”

“Furthermore, an interim police investigation report signed by CP Olafimihan Adeoye, Commissioner of Police, FSARS, Force CID, recommended that the case of criminal conspiracy and murder that was charged to court by the State Criminal Investigation Department, (SCID) Enugu State Command against Mrs. Buzo-Maduka Ruth, Mr. Afam Ndu, and Mrs. Achara Stella should be withdrawn from the court.”

“Besides this, the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) after examining the substance of the case, in its letter to the Chief Judge of Enugu State Judiciary, Ref.No.NHRC/ABS/2019/056 dated January 14, 2020 described as “an aberration of justice” the continued incarceration of Mrs. Buzo-Maduka Ruth, Mr. Afam Ndu, and Mrs. Achara Stella over the same murder of Late Nurse Maria Amadi which the police found and clearly stated they were not involved and for which the apprehended armed robber suspects that confessed to the crime have been charged to court.”

“We have heard many things about this case including how Governor Ugwuanyi has tied the hands of the Enugu State Chief Judge and that of Attorney-General of Enugu State over this case such that our members will languish in perpetuity in jail and will never come out alive to resume their duties as the Principal and Vice-Principal of the School of Nursing. While we do not want to cling on rumours, we respectfully demand from Governor Ugwuanyi and the Chief Judge of Enugu State to tell the general public why these innocent employees of the FHNE are still unjustly incarcerated despite mounting and formidable evidence that shows that they have no hand in the death of Nurse Amadi.”

“While we humbly beg the Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Rt. Hon. Lawrence Ifeanyichukwu Ugwuanyi, for the umpteenth time to forthwith release our members and the other employee of the FNHE that are unjustly incarcerated by the Enugu State government, we want to make it abundantly clear that we shall squarely hold him accountable should anything untoward happen to them while in this inexplicable, unjust and unwarranted incarceration for a crime they never committed” – the statement concluded.

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