JOHESU demands recall of 720 sacked Akwa Ibom council workers

The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), Akwa Ibom State Chapter, has given Governor Udom Emmanuel a 15-day ultimatum to reinstate 720 local council members of staff sacked in 2019 by the state government, majority of who were health workers.

In a statement jointly signed by Chairman of the state chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Patrick Odu; Chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Godwin Archibong and Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals, Aniebiet Abasi Obot and made available to newsmen in Uyo yesterday, the unions condemned the action of the state government, describing it as the height of government’s insensitivity to the plights of health workers in the state.

According to the statement, the unions urged the state government to release the circular for the implementation of the already agreed 80 per cent of the national Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

They also sought a review of the health hazard allowance to a minimum of 50 per cent of their salaries, noting that the present allowance of N3,500 was the least in the country.

They further called for the recruitment of more health workers to augment the shortfall occasioned by death and retirement, warning that if the above demands were not met, they would embark on indefinite strike beginning from June 30, 2020.

Meanwhile, the state government has distributed 500,000 cocoa seedlings and other agro-based farming inputs to cocoa farmers in the state.

The exercise, which marked the flag-off of this year’s cocoa planting season, was in line with the determination of Governor Emmanuel to boost agriculture towards ensuring food security and sufficiency for the people of the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Women Affairs, Dr. Glory Edet, made the presentation on behalf of the governor at the Odoro Ikpe in Ini Local Council Cocoa Nursery Farm.

Edet said that the governor was poised at ensuring abundance in cocoa production in the state, adding that Akwa Ibom has the best varieties of cocoa in Nigeria coupled with arable land favourable for cocoa production, which is a major cash crop in the country and indeed globally.

In his remark, the President of Ekemini Co-operative Cassava Farm in Odoro Ikpe, Ini Local Council, Elder ObongAnwan Idara Ekpe, expressed gratitude to Emmanuel on behalf of the women of the Ekemini Co-operative Society for the provision of improved cassava cuttings and other farming inputs for the women to boost their cassava cultivation.