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February 13, 2024
The protest which took place at the headquarters of NMCN’s office located at the life camp paralysed activities there as the protesters demanded to see the registrar of the council.
The African Action Congress (AAC) party has declared total support for the protest against what it described as "oppressive" verification guidelines and requirements issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
The AAC party which made the support declaration on Tuesday in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Femi Adeyeye, described the Council’s move as structural violence against Nigerians.
SaharaReporters on Monday reported that the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives staged a protest in Abuja against what they described as stringent verification certification guidelines released by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.
The nurses said the new rules were an attempt to hinder their freedom to pursue career opportunities.
They urged the council to address issues affecting their welfare including salary scale, shortage of staff, and other rights.
The protest which took place at the headquarters of NMCN’s office located at the life camp paralysed activities there as the protesters demanded to see the registrar of the council.
SaharaReporters had also reported that NMCN on February 7, 2024, issued a circular revising the guidelines for requesting verification of certificates for nurses and midwives.
The council also stated that applicants must have an active practicing licences with a minimum of six months to the expiration date, and processing of verification applications would take a minimum of six months.
The implementation of the guidelines takes effect from March 1, 2024.
Reacting to the development and declaring its support for the nurses, the AAC party in the statement said the move by the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government was to stifle the freedom of health workers in the country, likening it to the slave trade era.
“We salute the courage of Nigerians who trooped out across different cities yesterday to express their displeasure at the thoughtless guidelines aimed at cutting short the survival chances of nurses, midwives and other health workers.
“There is no doubt that this move by the Tinubu regime to stifle the freedom of health workers in Nigeria, is synonymous to the slave trade era, wherein people were captured, converted to slaves through hard labour, with little or no food and then chained to prevent them escaping from hardship,” part of the statement read.
The opposition political party said that “Over the years, the Nigerian nurses like all other professionals have been fed with a wage only sufficient for them to wake the next day to slave away and again.
“Despite the poor wages and conditions of work, they have toiled to achieve whatever health outcomes we have today. They deserve respect and dignity of labour; all that we as a party have explained in our manifesto for total liberation.”
The party added that “It’s also important to state clearly to our nurses that this verification guideline is a smokescreen to more anti-labour policies that would be introduced, adding to the hardship already in the country.
“This is what the ruling class do when they have lost total control of the economy and corporate governance. They start issuing bans on social services, auction whatever they can find, close borders and this time around, close borders against Nigerians who want to strive to get a better life. This is structural violence!”
According to AAC, “Our health workers must then understand clearly that the Registrar of the Council and their board members are just mere “errand boys and girls” of the Tinubu regime. This is not to absolve them but we must understand that the struggle is bigger than focusing on them.
“We must organise ourselves in the coming days for bigger actions with clear and radical demands, so that oppression can be halted in our country.”