On Wednesday, 3rd of January 2024, nurses at the Federal Medical Centre in Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, Ogun State, peacefully protested their unfair treatment at work and their exclusion from the institution’s 2023 promotion process.
The protesting nurses, operating under the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), carried placards with inscriptions such as “Stop selective promotion,” “Nurses workload is enough for promotion,” and “Improve nurses working environment.”
The NANNM Chairman for the FMC Abeokuta chapter, Olufimilola Adekunle, explained that the demonstration aimed to demand access to the papers of the promotional examination, alleging that the hospital management claimed the nurses failed. Adekunle emphasized the nurses’ exhaustion and overwork due to acute manpower shortages in the hospital.
“We are tired, we are really tired. Before we used to do three shifts, but because of the shortage, we have to collapse it to two shifts. We have written to the management several times for remuneration for this long hours work we are doing, but no response,” Adekunle stated.
She expressed frustration that the only benefit the nurses received from the management, namely promotions, did not materialize, as they were allegedly excluded from the process. Adekunle insisted on reviewing the promotional examination scripts to verify the claims of failure.
