We have even written letters to the Hon. Minister of FCT and the Minister of States, but I doubt if those letters were delivered to any of them
By Moses Okorie
The health workers who were employed in 2023 under the Hospitals Management Board of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, have continued to languish in penury despite the promises made by the FCT Permanent Secretary on Health and Environment on 29th May 2024 that their matter was being looked into.
According to some of the staff who spoke with Nigerian Pilot in Abuja, life has become unbearable as we are still living as those who have not gotten any employment, because their family members are already depending on them like their other colleagues who are being paid regularly.
One of them who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We have been employed by FCTA since May 2023 including doctors, pharmacist, Medical laboratory scientists, nurses and others of which we have different dates of assumption of duty.
“We were told in FCTA when someone is employed, it takes at most three months before his information would be processed and they would start paying him salaries, but unfortunately, it is not so in our own case”.
Another affected health worker said, “Majority of us worked for six months straight without getting paid, not even the first 28 days working allowance that we are entitled to. They did not care how we pulled it through to come to work on a daily basis. As a matter of truth , some of us are buried deeply in debt and still unable to repay and this is constituting so much embarrassment to us and our families, all they are after is for us to keep coming to work with compromised mental health and hungry stomachs.
“We are being owed salaries for periods ranging between three and six months as the case may be. We have tried to remind the people responsible and our various associations, but nothing has been done about it”, she said.
“We have even written letters to the Hon. Minister of FCT and the Minister of States, but I doubt if those letters were delivered to any of them”.
Another person added: “A hungry man is an angry man. We keep working 24/7 without our hard earned money and nobody is saying anything about it.
“You may recall that some aggrieved health workers on May 29, 2024 protested in front of the minister’s gate. The permanent secretary came out and addressed us. He initially said we were privileged to be employed so we shouldn’t protest for not being paid. He faulted the system for not paying us and promised to work on the matter. He assured us that we will get paid within a month, at most by 29th June 2024, all unpaid salaries would have been taken care of. But that has not happened.
“Later a letter was sent to our various Hospital MD’s and HOU’s stating that no staff should ever embark on any form of peaceful demonstration again, is this not a way of suppressing our voices? They described our peaceful demand for our rights as rebellious and against civil service rules.
Health workers at work
“A month later, a group of representatives were sent to see the Acting Director General of Hospitals Management Board regarding the same issues who claimed he was not aware of the outcome of the last meeting, and every measure we applied to see the Permanent Secretary again on the matter proved abortive.
“It may interest you to know that today, all LOCUM staff across the FCTA hospitals are being owed five months’ salary again and still counting. They went on a warning strike but they were promised payment as soon as they called off the strike, unfortunately, till now the story is still the same till date”.
The health workers expressed bitterness that those who are supposed to help them in fighting for their right as they are at the forefront saving lives are busy protecting their own political image as no one is willing to speak for them.
“No wonder there is an increase in the ‘japa’ syndrome as witnessed in the country today especially FCTA where health workers are jetting out of the country for greener pastures abroad”, they stated.
They called on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike to come to their aid, because they were told he alone has the powers to order the payment of their arrears.
