Health workers under the Federal Government Health and Nutrition Emergency Response Program in Borno State have staged a peaceful protest in Maiduguri demanding the payment of their three months allowances.
The protest which was staged at the Eye Hospital Maiduguri had in attendance many of the Nutrition health workers holding placards with inscriptions demanding the payment of their owed allowances.
Some of the placards have direct messages to the President, Mohammadu Buhari, Federal Ministry of Health and the Borno State Ministry of Health. Some messages read: FMOH/SMOH PAY US OUR OUTSTANDING SALARIES (FOR 3 MONTHS); WE ARE NEGLECTED IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT WITHOUT INFORMATION; FROM AUGUST TO DATE, NO PAYMENT; HNERP IN BORNO 3 MONTHS WITH PAYMENT etc.
In an interview with The Nation, the leaders of the group Dr. Ahmed Balami expressed regrets over the non-payment off their allowances especially considering the sacrifices they making in very difficult areas of the state.
Dr. Balami noted that after the expiration of their initial contract of six months and subsequent renewal for another six months, none of them have received any payment.
โThe last salary we collected salary from this program was in July. Since the extension of this program to December, we have been working without pay. We believe that this cry that we are making today will get to the appropriate authorities so that our problems will be solved,โ Dr. Balami informed.
He also added that in the event where their problems are not considered, they will resort to legal alternative.
Speaking on the impact of the program on the malnutrition crisis in the state, Dr. Balami informed said โI can say that there has been drastic improvement and a serious drop in the cases of malnutrition since the beginning of this programโ.
According to him the Program apart from their non-payment also faces challenges like supply of equipment and drugs to areas of need.
When contacted, the Director of Media and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of Health Mrs BOADE Akinola appealed to the protesting workers to be patient as their payment are being processed.
According to her, the delay in their payment was as a result of the extension of the program in another phase, adding that, โapproval has been received for the extension and we are currently processing the release of the funds. We appeal to the affected workers to please exercise a little more patienceโ.
The Nation recalls that the Health and Nutrition Emergency Response Program was set in the beginning of this year by the Federal Government of Nigeria following the Nutrition crisis that broke out in Borno state due to the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents.
To tackle the problem, 25 teams were set up comprising one medical doctor, one pharmacist, three nurses, two laboratory scientists, five community health workers, one nutritionist and One health record officer and deployed to 25 out of 27 LGAs in Borno State where they work in IDP camps and host communities of displaced persons.
