On Friday, the Lagos State chapter of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives announced that a three-day warning strike would begin on January 10.
In a statement, the union’s state secretary, Oloruntoba Odumosu, said the strike was required to pressure the Lagos State Government to act quickly on the union’s requests.
“The State Executive Council of the association at its meeting on December 29, 2021, resolved that the Council should embark on a three-day warning strike starting 08:00am on Monday 10th January 2022 to 08:00pm on Wednesday 12th January 2022.
“This warning strike is to compel the Lagos State Government to act promptly on the following issues; acute shortage of nurses and midwives in health facilities; payment of retention allowance; proper consolidation of the CONHESS salary structure; regularisation of graduate nurses and stagnated nurses; improved welfare and working condition of nurses; improved hazard allowance; nurses representation in relevant boards and policymaking and life insurance scheme for nurses and other health workers,” the statement partly read.
The strike would be total and comprehensive, with the exception of Federal Health Institutions in the state, according to Odumosu.
This comes amid a continuous rise of COVID-19 cases, which the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has identified as the pandemic’s fourth wave (NCDC).
The country registered 4,035 cases on Wednesday, the highest single-day tally since the pandemic began in 2020.
The National Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently stated that 45 cases of the Omicron variant have been discovered in the country.
