By Omoniyi Salaudeen
In furtherance of its demand for better conditions of service, aggrieved staff of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) under the aegis of Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Friday embarked on an indefinite strike.
At a press conference jointly addressed by Comrade Attah Isa Ibrahim and Comrade Anzaku Peter Joseph, state and branch chairmen respectively, at Isolo operational headquarters of NAFDAC, Lagos, the union said the action became necessary in view of the failure of management to yield to its request for improved welfare of its members.
According to a release signed by Secretary of MHWUN, Ibrahim Bashir, the renewed industrial action was a follow up to the suspended strike of November 2016, which was declared to seek redress on the issues of stagnation of staff of NAFDAC, consolidated salary structure, skipping of CONRAISS 10 and other grades, review of job specific allowance, among other things.
The union further noted with dismay the Federal Government’s tardiness to reconstitute the Governing Board of the agency, lamenting that the delay was already affecting the operational efficiency of the organization.
The statement read in part: “In line with its mandate and objectives of safeguarding public health, union frowns at the deliberate attempt by the ministry and the Federal Government in delaying the appointment of a Governing Board for the agency. This has caused untold hardship in budget implementation, late release of funds for project execution, delay in purchase of laboratory equipment and consumables, as decisions have to be routed through the officials of the Federal Ministry of Health for submission to Finance Ministry for approval.”
The aggrieved workers also insisted that the acting Director General of the agency, Mrs Yetunde Oni, must proceed on her mandatory retirement, having clocked age 60 on September 21, 2017, charging the relevant authorities to appoint a substantive DG within the shortest possible time.
A communiqué issued at the end of emergency meeting of Joint Health Sector Union JOHESU warned “that no member of the union should go to work under the guise of being management staff or force any member working under them to work.”