There was jubilation by nurses in Delta State following the removal of embattled Director of Nursing Services, Ministry of Health, Asaba, Mrs. Gloria Igumbor, a relative of the immediate past governor, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Following the removal of Igumbor by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, nurses across the state under the umbrella of National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, (NANNM), on Monday marched straight to the Government House Asaba in jubilation to thank the governor for yielding to their long cry and emancipating them from what they called "age long oppression of nurses in the state."
The nurses armed with placards with different inscriptions such as “Thank you, our Governor for restoring the hope of Nurses”, “Victory for Nurses will better the health of Deltans”, "Governor of Destiny, Delta Nurses say Thank you”,“The Iroko Governor, Your Commissioner for Health is doing well”, “Thank you, sir!”, “Thanks, our amiable Head of Service” and “We are grateful to the Ukodo of Delta State for good governance, NANNM" among others, described the governor as a listening leader with zero tolerance for injustice and oppression against humanity.
According to the nurses, they have been under a serious bondage under the reign of the former Director of Nursing Services, Mrs. Igumbor, even as they promised using their privileged positions to ensure sustained health and wellness of Deltans adding that they were in government house on a solidarity march to thank the state governor for coming to their rescue even though it was over due.
The state Public Relations Officer of NANNM, Julie Eto, who spoke on behalf of the nurses during the solidarity march, noted the march was all about thanking the governor Oborevwori for the bold step taken to do what his predecessor, immediate past governor Okowa refused to do to deliver the nurses in the state from the leadership of Igumbor.
“Governor Oborevwori has also redeemed the education of Nurses in Delta State. We are here to say thank you to the Secretary to the State Government because he was the mediator of the meeting that brought in this meeting. We call it victory because the Nurses in Delta State had been in bondage for many years and now we have been liberated. The only thing we have to say to the governor is that he is an epitome of justice and justice will continue to follow him and his team.
"Because Delta State Nurses are just vessels standing in for God to treat, Governor Oborevwori will never know sickness. His team will never know sickness. You have set the pace for justice and other states will learn from Delta State. This is just a cross-section of the nurses in Delta State. We love him so much and would not want to close down the hospitals for this march. We are the middle men between the sick and God. We are very appreciative of the Governor and we say a very big thank you to him because we are very happy.”
Receiving the nurses at the main gate of the government house Asaba on behalf of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, the Secretary to the State Government, Kingsley Emu, thanked the nurses for the solidarity march and conducting themselves in a well matured manner throughout the period, assuring them of Oborevwori's commitment to ensuring justice in all sectors of the state and urged them to use the opportunity of their liberation to commit themselves further to the job to ensure that more lives were saved in hospitals across the state.
Recalled in 2022, students of nursing school across the state had protested against the embattled former Director of Nursing Services, Ministry of Health, Asaba, Mrs. Gloria Igumbor, a relation of the immediate past governor of Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa over what they called "high-handedness, corruption, oppression, extortion and intimidation” of students and staff members of schools of nursing as well as alleged prevention of over 300 students from taking their final year examination.
The final-year students who were from the three schools of nursing in Warri, Eku and Agbor in the state, had told SaharaReporters that each of them had paid N98,000 through Igumbor for the national nursing council examination and another N15,000 for CBT training and she had threatened them with expulsion from the schools should they embark on a protest over the development as well as her constant boasting that nobody can do her anything as she is a relation of Okowa which made staff of the ministry to be always scared of her.
However, the embattled former Director of Nursing Services, Ministry of Health, Asaba, Mrs. Gloria Igumbor who was last week redeployed from the ministry of health to head the State Agency for the Control of Aids had denied all allegations levelled against her.