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Nurses and midwives for Nigeria protest ova new regulations wey dey 'choke'
Nurses and midwives for Nigeria tok say dem no go accept di new rules wey dia regulation body di Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) put for dem becos di rules wan choke dem.
Dem carry protest enta street for Lagos and Abuja on Monday to show dia disapproval of di new regulations, one of dem be say nurse wey just graduate for Nigeria must work for two years in di kontri before im go get verification.
Anoda one be say di verification period, wey bifor na two weeks, according to di nurses, don dey extended now to "minimum of six months".
"Na im be say e fit take more dan six months befor nurse go dey verified, afta im don do di council exam and pass. Why? Wen for oda kontris verification no dey pass 48 hours," One of di protest leaders, Cynthia Adeyeri tok.
Di nurses tok say bifor, dia verification process na online and e no dey pass two weeks.
Di verification process na wetin di Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) bin introduce to stop di problem of quack nurses for di kontri. E also follow for di requirement bifor a nurse go fit travel abroad either to work or to study.
If afta two years of recieving verification a nurse later no travel abroad, di verification go expire and di person gatz reapply for anoda verification, according to Stephen Gov, a male nurse wey join di protest.
According to di nurses, di new regulations wey dem no go accept include:
- Increment of verification fee to N300,000
- Verification period go take minimum of six months and 18 months maximum
- Nurses gatz present "letter of good standing" from di CEO of di hospital wia dem dey work as part of verification requirement
- Fresh graduates gatz work for Nigeria for two years bifor dem go dey elgible for verification
End of Di one wey oda users dey read well well
"Some of us, our salary no reach N80,000 a month. How we wan get 300k for verification fees even as di economy dey now? Verification suppose dey free, na like dat e be for many oda kontris," Stephen Gov tok.
"I don wok as a nurse for five years now but I no fit boast of any reasonable money for inside my account. You no go fit buy even bicycle as a nurse wey dey work for Nigeria."
Anoda nurse wey follow for di protest tok say di requirement for dem to get letter from hospital CEOs fit expose di female nurses to sexual abuse.
"Some of dem fit capitalise on dat dey demand things wey di nurse no go fit do, and if you no gree do am dem no go give you di letter and your verification go dey at stake," she tok.
"Wetin we want na total reversal of dis new verification rules as dem tok say e go take effect from March 1, 2024."
Di nurses also dey vex say as some of dem dey japa goa abroad, goment no dey recruit new nurses to replace dem, and e dey affect di workload ontop dia head.
Nigeria na di only kontri we get - Registrar, NMCN
In response to di protests, di registrar of di Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Farouk Umar Abubakar, tell di nurses say im don hear dia complaints and im go look into am.
But make dem remember say "Nigeria na di only kontri wey we get, we no get anoda kontri. And again we no dey against anybody wey wan travel, whatever policy we dey bring on board na for di best interest of Nigeria," him tok.
However, di nurses tok say if some weeks pass and dem no get beta response from dia regulating oga, dem go decide on dia next action and strike no dey excluded.
Below na some photos from di protest from Abuja and Lagos:
