• State workers confirm implementation of N80,000 minimum wage
The Enugu State government has called on private investors in Nigeria and the Diaspora to invest in healthcare infrastructure to encourage medical tourism to the country.

This is as the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Godfrey Onah, lamented the increasing deaths of Nigerians as a result of wrong diagnosis.

The governor, Peter Mbah, stated this in Enugu during the grand opening ceremony of the Health Focus Diagnostics Nigeria, a Medical Diagnostics Centre established by Health Focus, a German consultancy working to strengthen health systems across Africa and Unimedical Healthcare, stressing that Nigerians must rise to save the health sector and improve health standards.

Mbah, who was represented by his deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai, said that it is worrying that Nigerians spend over $1.5 billion on medical tourism yearly, contributing to the economy of other countries instead of investing back home to build a stronger healthcare system.

He noted that with the right investment, Enugu State can become the health tourism destination of Nigeria, adding that the state was best suited for investments in healthcare infrastructure, boasting of over nine health institutions producing medical doctors and other healthcare professionals.

Mbah said: “We need more facilities like this in Enugu State where people can come to seek medical care because no society develops without access to healthcare.”

The governor commended the owners of the centre for deeming it necessary to invest in the state.

MEANWHILE, organised labour in Enugu State has refuted the media reports that the new minimum wage was yet to be paid in the state, saying that the implementation of the N80,000 minimum wage, which is above the N70,000 national minimum wage, commenced in November 2024.

The workers also said that they had no plan to go on strike.  They said that observed discrepancies in consequential adjustment in the implementation of the N80,000 minimum wage had already been conveyed to the governor and had no doubt that it would be addressed subsequently, as he had already earned workers’ trust by his commitment to their welfare since his assumption of office.

This was made known in a joint statement in the state capital yesterday by the Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Enugu State Council, Fabian Nwigbo; Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Ben Asogwa, and the Chairman of the state’s Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC), Ezekiel Omeh.