Last Wednesday July 15, 2015, at the entrance gate of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, hundreds of staff of the Health Centre adorning black on black costume virtually abandoned their offices and care-giving responsibilities to their patients, while demonstrating against the continued staying in office of the Chief Medical Director (CMD) Dr. (Mrs.) Angela Uwakwem.
Though some of them carried play card with such inscriptions as, “Remove our CMD!, No Public Private Partnership! Pay us our 2013 leave allowances, she is a terrorist to patients, she is worse than Ebola”, etc, quite a good number of the staff who confided in the Community Watchdog Newspapers correspondent under conditions of anonymity have confessed that they were coerced into joining the action by their union leaders. They claimed also that a certain cabal interested in succeeding Mrs. Uwakwem has been funding the protests.
According to information which they made available to Community Watchdog reporter the action was packaged by aggrieved union leaders of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Workers, Nigerian Union of Professional Medical and Health Workers and the Nigerian Association of Nurses and Midwives (NANMW).
Speaking specifically on the issues which border on Board Resolution of June 8, 2015 some of the demonstrating staff acknowledged that Dr. (Mrs.) Uwakwem has since complied with the board resolution to suspend the implementation of the public private partnership (PPP) initiated by the Medical Director, in a bid to enhance the Internally Generated Revenue base of the Hospital rather than go cap in hand every month for government subvention.
According to them, the cause of the lingering action was the conspiracy of those who are desperately after the job of Mrs. Uwakwem, at all cost. It was also revealed that this category of personnel have been funding the demonstration and even procured the newly sewn black upon black costume worn by the striking staff, with which they have abandoned work for several weeks. Sources reveal that the sponsors of the protests are not very comfortable with the recent computerization of FMC accounts carried out by the CMD which had blocked almost all avenues through which they perpetrate fraud, and divert revenue which otherwise should be accruing to the Health Institution.
Their bone of contention is all about the sale of hospital drugs in the pharmacy department of the medical centre which supply they may lose should the proposed PPP be implemented to the letter. It was stated that these group of greedy merchants will stop at nothing to discredit the CMD if only their illicit business on drugs will be allowed to thrive or flourish without let or hindrance. Efforts made to get Mrs. Uwakwem to speak on the matter failed woefully, as she was said to have travelled out of town probably to table the matter before the authorities at the Federal Ministry of Health Abuja, now that the governing board has been sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari as stated in a recent press release.
Another outstanding issue that was stated as being responsible for the huge expenditure invested by those who want Mrs. Uwakwem’s job dearly, is the fear that once FMC Owerri is converted to a University Teaching Hospital as presently speculated, Mrs. Uwakwem would be the ultimate beneficiary which development will automatically renew her tenure for another 5years within which period some of these sponsors would have retired from service without reaching the self acclaimed apogee of their career.
Our source explained further that the reason for the proposed PPP was because of the large scale fraud uncovered at the Diagnostic laboratories where a staff was recently caught and punished for racketeering. Virtually all the laboratory staff were alleged to be involved in using FMC facilities to analyze specimen or sample for their private clientele and proprietors to private hospitals and laboratories. Community Watchdog investigations also revealed that Administrative Personnel are agitating for payment of shift duty allowances, which is unconventional in other hospitals. Though the payment was statutorily approved for Nurses and Midwives, the CMD had under compassionate considerations following persuasions and entreaties by the workers, tentatively implemented the payment of shift duty allowance to administrative personnel before she allegedly discovered that no other government clinic in Nigeria was doing same and that it was weighing down on the monthly wage bill.
Another grouse disclosed as responsible for the protest is the refusal of the now embattled CMD, to continually oblige the indiscriminate application for payment of overtime for administrative and audit cadre personnel whereas has a laydown guideline according to government rules.
