Hospitals and health centres across the states were gripped by silence as a nationwide strike emptied wards and emergency units as a result of nurses strike.

The nationwide strike by the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) crippled healthcare services across multiple states.

Hospitals discharged patients, and only skeletal or emergency services were available in some facilities.

The workers are demanding improved staffing, better facilities, and recognition in healthcare decision-making.

The Federal Government appealed to the nurses and midwives to call off the seven-day warning strike.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, made the appeal after a meeting with the leadership of the association yesterday.

According to spokesman of the ministry Patience Onuobia, the minister implored the association to step back from the action, saying that a strike was not the best solution to industrial disputes.

The minister urged the association to embrace dialogue while the government continues to work on addressing their concerns.

The meeting will continue tomorrow while the government works out a resolution to the dispute.

The association on July 10 issued a 15-day ultimatum to the government.

Some of the demands include: creation of a department for Nursing in the Federal Ministry of Health; shift duty allowance for nurses at 30 per cent consolidated; 20 per cent specialist allowance; upward review of uniform allowance of N300,000 per annum; constitution of Governing Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN); constitution of board of Federal Health institutions to reflect fair representation of nurses.

Others are: upward review of call duty allowance at four per cent consolidated; centralisation and re-categorisation of intern Nurses; payment of 35 per cent teaching allowance to all nurses; payment of peculiar excess workload and burnout allowance to nurses; payment of retention allowance to nurses in order to mitigate brain drain; and tax waiver for health professionals.

Unlike the doctors who frequently go on strike, the strike by the nurses is the first time in more than 40 years.

Patients groan

At the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, the bustling corridors and emergency ward were ghostly quiet?no staff, no patients, only abandoned beds and idle equipment.

Isolo General Hospital mirrored the scene, with most departments shut and only a few units operating at skeletal capacity.

Igando General Hospital was perhaps the starkest, its maternity ward lined with unattended mothers, their calls for help echoing in deserted halls.

?The doctor came earlier and assured me I?ll be discharged soon,? said Grace, a patient waiting anxiously amid the staff absence.

Patients groaned as nurses in government hospitals across Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, withdrew their services to press home their demands.

At the General Hospital in Kubwa, critical services at the government-owned facility were either skeletal or completely halted.

In the Emergency Male Ward, the impact of the industrial action was immediately visible, as the ward stood empty and devoid of patients.

?There are no nurses to attend to the patients. We had to discharge all of them. We will only attend to emergency cases that don?t require admission.

?If they?re admitted, there?s simply no one to care for them,? a medical doctor said.

The Special Clinic was largely unaffected, with consultations continuing as usual, while staff at the Dental Clinic confirmed that the absence of nurses had not significantly disrupted services.

Nurses and midwives working at the University College Hospital (UCH) also joined the strike.

Rising from an emergency congress held at the Nurses? Lounge of the hospital, the nurses and midwives resolved to align with the directive in the interest of the workers.

Many nurses who had earlier reported for duty were seen returning home, singing solidarity songs and chanting jubilantly in support of the strike.

State Chairman, Comrade Olufunmilola Familu, said the association?s demands include the employment of more nursing personnel, provision of adequate facilities for hospitals and health institutions, and the creation of a directorate cadre for nurses at the Federal Ministry of Health, among others.

The Kwara State chapter of NANNM joined the strike.

Its State Council Chairman, Alhaji Aminu Sheu, said: ?We are joining the strike because it is the directive of the national body.?

Sheu, however, commended Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for increasing nurses? salaries in the state for the third time, in line with federal directives.

?We joined the strike to show solidarity with the national body and to avoid any disciplinary consequences,? he added.

Similarly, the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC) chapter of NANNM joined the strike.

Its chairman, Lawrence Oyeniyi, lamented that nurses are frequently sidelined in healthcare decision-making, which negatively impacts service delivery.

In Bayelsa, public hospitals abruptly discharged patients.

At the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Yenagoa, only a few patients were seen wandering around the wards without medical attention. Some said they had been waiting to see doctors since 8 a.m., while others with scheduled appointments were left unattended.

Chairman of NANNM at FMC Yenagoa, Mr. Liberia Progress, who led the enforcement team, confirmed that no skeletal services would be available during the strike.

Nurses across state and federal health institutions in Niger also joined the nationwide strike.

Several primary healthcare centres, including the Kpakungun PHC, Tunga PHC, and General Hospital Minna, had no nurses in sight.

Nurses at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) were also on strike, leaving only resident doctors to attend to patients.

In Delta, nurses at the Central Hospital, Warri, downed tools, and patients were turned away.

In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Adeoyo Hospital discharged patients on admission.

Many wards were empty, with only a few critical patients remaining ? but with no nurses to attend to them.

A relative of a patient in the female ward, Mr. Adegoke Rahman, said some patients had been told to go home.

Mr. Samuel Biyi, an outpatient, said he came to treat a leg wound but was not attended to.

Medical and other health services at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, the Abia State capital, were also grounded as nurses joined the strike.

Similarly, activities at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in Edo State were paralysed. (The Nation, but headline rejigged)

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