THE International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) is inviting applications from suitable and qualified journalists for its “Promoting Democratic Governance in Nigeria Project”.
The Promoting Democratic Governance in Nigeria Project aims to strengthen the capacity
of the media to promote transparency, accountability, and good governance in Nigeria,
particularly in the Northwest.
The Project is supported by the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria under its “Public Diplomacy Small Grants Programme”.
The application is for journalists in media houses in the Northwest states of Sokoto,
Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, and Zamfara across print, electronic and digital
media. Twenty journalists will be selected.
The project will build capacity and provide financial support for selected journalists to
work with Civil Society Organizations and the ICIR to undertake investigative and
data-driven reports on transparency and accountability issues.
Candidates with a minimum of two years experience practising as journalists working in
print, electronic, and online media from the Northwest geo-political zone can apply. They
would be expected to report on accountability issues in their respective states. Freelancers
with a track record of critical reporting are also welcome.
Intending journalists must provide proof of prior critical reporting in the last 12 months.
Applications are therefore requested from journalists who meet the stipulated eligibility
criteria.
Being a gender-inclusive organisation, the Centre strongly encourages qualified female
journalists to apply.
The organiser says in the last five years, the Centre has worked to build the capacity for journalists to undertake investigative, data-driven reporting, thus strengthening accountability and engendering effective service delivery for the welfare of the citizens, particularly at the sub-regional level.
The deadline for the submission of applications is August 18, 2023. interested applicants can apply here.
THE Lagos State House of Assembly inaugurated an eight-member committee to probe an elevator accident at Odan General Hospital, Lagos Island, claiming the life of a doctor Diaso Vwaere.
The House’s Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa disclosed this during plenary on Friday, August 4, while promising that justice would be served.
The committee, inaugurated on Thursday, August 3, would be headed by Deputy Speaker of the House Mojisola Meranda, and the investigations would last for two weeks.
“The eight-man committee, to be headed by the Deputy Speaker, Mrs Mojisola Meranda, includes Mr David Setonji, Mr Lara Oyekan, Mr Olayinka Ajomale, Mr Shabi Adekola, Mrs Omolara Olumegbon, Mr Akanbi Oluwa and Mr Olarenwaju Afinni.
“They have a mandate to report their findings to the House in two weeks. It is unimaginable the pain that the loss of the medical doctor would bring to her immediate family. It is saddening to lose such a young promising daughter,” Obasa said.
Vwaere died on Tuesday, August 1, when the elevator at the hospital staff quarters crashed from the ninth floor to the ground with her in it.
The deceased, who graduated from Babcock University, was said to be undergoing her mandatory one-year Housemanship at the hospital with less than two weeks to complete the programme at the time of her death.
Vwaere did not die immediately after the crash, though she was stuck in the elevator for about an hour before engineers arrived.
Long history of fault
The ICIRreported that the elevator had been faulty for about three years, and there had been no serious efforts by the hospital management to see to its repair.
Sources disclosed that the elevator capacity had been reduced from eight people to just two before the fatal accident.
“Particularly aggrieved because we’ve complained for a long time about this elevator. We’ve manoeuvred, managed and prayed each time we had to use it. Empty promises will be made to fix it….till it killed one of us,” a doctor Olarenwaju Aiyepola wrote on Twitter.
In 2020, Medical Guard, an association of all Lagos State Medical and Dental Doctors, made a post on Twitter on the state of the elevator.
“FACT: The doctors’ quarters at General Hospital Lagos has 10 floors. It has a non-functional elevator and no running water. Doctors who live on the 10th floor, including pregnant women, climb the stairs multiple times daily,” the tweet read.
Lagos doctors declare strike action
Following Vwaere’s death, hospital workers staged a protest while the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) declared a strike action at the three government hospitals situated on Lagos Island.
The association declared a five-day mourning period for the deceased, while the strike was scheduled indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu earlier called for an investigation into the mechanical fault of the elevator, describing the accident as distressing via social media on Wednesday, August 2.
“In light of this tragedy, I have taken immediate action to initiate a thorough investigation into the cause of the mechanical failure. It is my sincere commitment that this investigation will be conducted with utmost transparency and fairness, leaving no room for any biases or favouritism,” Sanwo-Olu noted.
THE head coach of Zambia, Bruce Mwape, has been accused of sexual assault over a player at the Women’s World Cup.
The ICIR had reported that Zambia is the only African side that failed to progress to the knock-out stage at the women’s world cup.
According to a report by BBC, FIFA has waded into the action of investigating the official complaint it received about the sexual assault the Zambia head coach meted on one of his players.
Mwape is accused of rubbing his hands over the chest of one of his players during a training session in New Zealand on 29 July.
The BBC reports that the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) said “it has not received any such complaint” and it is a “surprise”.
FAZ also noted that “All the training sessions for the Copper Queens (Zambia) were filmed by the FAZ media team and offer no such footage”.
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has informed the National Assembly about ECOWAS plan to deploy military personnel to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger Republic, should they remain recalcitrant.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio revealed the plan while reading the letter addressed to the senate by Tinubu, who’s also the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Wednesday, August 4.
The coup, which took place on Wednesday, July 26, and ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum while bringing in Omar Tchiani, the head of presidential guards, has led the ECOWAS leadership to take action against the country.
As part of the sanctions imposed on Niger, Nigeria decided to cut off its power supply to the country, resulting in recent electricity shortages, according to Nigelec, Niger’s electricity company.
The ICIR reports that the country is heavily dependent on Nigeria as its main electricity supplier. In 2019, Nigelec’s chief executive said Niger relied on Nigeria for up to 70 per cent of its electricity supply. Kainji Dam in western Nigeria generates Niger’s electricity.
ECOWAS also suspended all commercial and financial transactions between Niger and its member states, froze Niger’s assets in ECOWAS central and commercial banks, and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on the military officials involved in the coup attempt.
Similarly, Tinubu’s letter unveiled ECOWAS’s determination to return the country to its democratic government.
Part of the letter read, “Following the unfortunate political situation in Niger Republic culminating in the overthrow of its President, ECOWAS under my leadership condemned the coup in its entirety and resolved to seek the return of the democratically elected govt. In a bid to restore peace, ECOWAS convened a meeting and came out with a communique.
“Closure and monitoring of all land borders with Niger Republic and reactivating of the border drilling exercise.
“Cutting off Electricity supply to Niger Republic. Mobilising international support for the implementation of the provisions of the ECOWAS communique. Preventing the operation of commercial and special flights into and from Niger Republic
“Blockade of goods in transit to Niger especially from Lagos and eastern seaports Embarking on sensitization of Nigerians and Nigerians on the imperative of these actions, particularly via social media. Military build-up and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant.”
Earlier today, the military junta in Niger Republic was reported to have cut off ties with Nigeria, France, and other countries on Friday after the peace talks delegates sent by the Economic Community of West Africa States failed.
The delegation of ECOWAS, which was led by a retired general, Abdulsalami Abubakar only met with representatives of the junta.
The delegation arrived in Niamey with the aim of establishing a dialogue with the junta in order to obtain a return to constitutional order. However, the meeting didn’t yield a positive result.
“The putschists also decided to put “an end to the functions of the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of the Republic of Niger” from four countries: France and the United States, two allies of President Bazoum, Nigeria, whose President Bola Tinubu is also at the head of ECOWAS and which imposed sanctions against Niger – suspension of financial and commercial transactions, freezing of the assets of putschists, cut in electricity supply… –, and Togo.” the Radio France International was quoted by the punch report.
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has written to the Senate to replace a ministerial nominee Maryam Shettima popularly known as Maryam Shetty, from Kano state, with Mairiga Mahmud.
This move may be connected to the backlash that greeted her nomination from some quarters on social media.
The President also added a former minister of state for Labour, Festus Keyamo, to the list of ministerial nominees.
This was disclosed on Friday, August 4, during the Senate resumption of screening of the second batch of ministerial nominees sent to the Senate.
Akpabio had, on Tuesday, August 2, unveiled 19 additional ministerial nominees sent by President Bola Tinubu.
The chief of staff to the President, Femi Gbajamiabila, presentedthe new ministerial list to the Senate during the plenary session.
Former governors Adegboyega Oyetola, Atiku Bagudu, Bello Matawalle, and Simon Bako Lalong were prominent Nigerians who made it to the new list of nominees.
Others names on the list are Maryam Shetti, Ishak Salako, Tunji Alausa, Tanko Sununu, Ibrahim Geidam, Ahmed Tijani, Bosun Tijjani, Lola Adejo, Shuaibu Aninakar, Zephaniah Jossalo, Tahir Mamman, Aliyu Sabi, Alkali Ahmed, Heineken Lokpobiri and Uba Maigari.
The nomination of Maryam Shetty from Kano State by President Tinubu generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians on social media, particularly Twitter.
While some Nigerians praised President Tinubu for nominating Shetty, others criticised him for nominating her.
The new nominee Mairiga was the commissioner for higher education in Kano State under former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje during his second term as Governor.
Keyamo was Minister of State for Labour under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The ICIR reported on Thursday that Tinubu nominated former Governor of Zamfara state Bello Matawalle, accused of N70 billion fraud by the EFCC as minister.
PRESCRIBABLE medicines produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a British multinational pharmaceutical Group, like Augmentin, Amoxil will now cost more as the firm has announced plans to exit Nigeria after 51 years of operation.
As a result of the exit, Nigeria would now have to import and pay higher for these prescribable and off-the-counter drugs that, hitherto, were being produced largely in Nigeria by the company.
The firm is a healthcare company that researches, develops, and manufactures pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products.
The company’s product line includes panadol, Andrews liver salt, Macleans, Ampiclox, Sensodyne, and others.
The Group has hinted at its exit plans, as the government policies on foreign exchange unification keep creating currency problems for the manufacturing sector, with dollar scarcity taking its toll on its production.
“In our published Q2 results, we disclosed that the GSK UK Group has informed GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria PLC of its strategic intent to cease commercialisation of its prescription medicines and vaccines in Nigeria through the GSK local operating companies and transition to a third-party direct distribution model for its pharmaceutical products,” GSK Nigeria Plc said in a statement seen by The ICIR.
It added, “The Haleon Group has also separately informed the Board of its intent to terminate its distribution agreement in the coming months and to appoint a third-party distributor in Nigeria for the supply of its consumer healthcare products.”
“The Board of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc has concluded that there is no alternative but to cease operations,” GSK Nigeria said in an official statement signed by its company secretary, Frederick Ichekwai.
“Today, we are briefing our employees whom we will treat fairly, respectfully and with care, meeting all applicable legal and consultation requirements,” the company said.
The company noted that its board is conscious that shareholders will have many questions; “We have been working assiduously with our professional advisors to agree on the next steps, and we will be shortly submitting to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a draft Scheme of Arrangement which may if approved, see shareholders other than GSK UK, receive an accelerated cash distribution and return of capital.”
“The Board acknowledges the support of the GSK Group in its intentions to make this possible, full details of which we hope to publish shortly. In the meantime, however, we cannot give you assurance of the final terms of any scheme, or that any scheme will be approved by the SEC or by shareholders,” GSK said.
It added, “Shareholders are advised to seek professional advice and continue to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s shares until a further announcement is made.”
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc was incorporated in Nigeria on June 23, 1971 and commenced business on July 1, 1972, under the name Beecham Limited. Its Head office is located at 1 Industrial Avenue, Ilupeju, Lagos.
The Company was quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1977. In 1982, in order to expand the operations in the country, an ultra-modern drinks factory was established in Agbara Industrial Estate, Ogun State, which has since been expanded to include facilities to manufacture Oral Healthcare (OHC) and Wellness products.
In line with our commitment to continuous improvement, we regularly update our facilities to meet the ever-increasing demands of our consumers.
Analysts’ reaction to GSK’s exit from Nigeria
Following the disclosure on Thursday, August 3, by the board of directors of GSK Consumer Nigeria to cease operations, a capital market operator, David Adonri, told The ICIR that the company had barely become a shadow of itself in the capital market.
“Well, from the fundamentals of the company, as stipulated in their financial reports, the company has not been performing well like it did in those days which made it very attractive to investors.
“It is probably losing its ability to compete in the industry and has lost its competitive edge,” Adonri, executive vice chairman of Highcap Securities Limited, said.
Adonri said, “the condition is likely driving them (GSK Nigeria) out of the stock market.”
A check by The ICIR showed that GSK Nigeria’s half-year sales dropped to N7.75 billion ($9.82 million) from N14.8 billion in the same period a year ago.
The company’s shares, in which British drugmaker GSK has a 46.4 per cent stake and Nigerian shareholders the remaining 53.6 per cent, closed at N8.10 on Thursday, August 3, down from a peak of N42.24 in 2014.
Reacting further and relating it to the realities of the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification of apparently distorting many businesses, Adonri said, “I think it is a panic measure.”
“You can, therefore, see that the sustainable growth and development of the Nigerian economy cannot be built on the activities of foreign multinational companies because they are like briefcase investors; any little thing happens, they carry their bags and disappear.
“We are probably going to see more of that with a lot of these foreign enterprises that are only in another country to make a profit as long as their profit-making objective is not being realised,” Adonri said.
He, however, asserted that the unification of the exchange rate had created a blockage to the avenue through which a lot of multinational companies engaged in over-invoicing and siphoned capital away from Nigeria.
His words, “So with the floating of the naira and the foreign exchange market now allocating hard currency in the economy, everything is now transparent. Nobody can involve itself in the criminality of over-invoicing as a means of siphoning capital flight.
“They (multinational companies) have been profiting from the imperfection of the Nigerian economy for a very long time. Now that those imperfections are being removed, they are giving up.”
Adonri believes that the real investors required to make Nigeria’s economy development are Nigerian investors.
He added, “So, you can see why it is important for Nigerians to take control of their productive economy and not rely on foreign investors who can only come and take advantages and leave.”
An investment and portfolio analyst, Abel Ezekiel, noted that many companies are now exiting the Nigerian equities market.
He corroborated that GSK, which operates a “very big production facility” at Illupeju in Lagos state, where its manufactures its product, had since it sold off its main brand, Lucozade Boost, not been doing well and gaining investors sentiments in the equities market.
He also told The ICIR that the reality is that companies are exiting the equities market, primarily because of post-listing requirements, which compels quoted companies to disclose their quarterly and annual reports, among others.
IN a partnership deal expected to reduce demand for Premium fuel Motor Spirit (PMS), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has struck a strategic partnership deal with NIPCO Gas Limited to deploy Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations across the country.
The National Oil Company said the partnership is focused on providing cheaper alternative PMS to motorists.
Most Nigerians have been embroiled in the high cost of PMS since the removal of petroleum subsidy, but the NNPCL assured the deal would provide alternative options for Nigerian motorists.
The Chief corporate communications officer of the NNPCL, Garba Deen Muhammad, in a statement said, the collaboration aims to expand the CNG infrastructure, improve access to CNG, and accelerate the adoption of cheaper and cleaner alternative fuel for buses, cars and Keke NAPEP,which will significantly reduce the cost of transportation and engender sustainable national economic growth.
“Under the NNPC-NIPCO strategic partnership, 35 state-of-the-art CNG stations will be constructed nationwide, including three (3) Mother stations,” the statement said.
According to the NNPCL, once fully operational, the stations can service over 200,000 vehicles daily, thereby significantly reducing the cost of automobile fuel for Nigerians and the cost of transportation.
“The project will be rolled out in phases. The first phase, comprising 21 CNG stations, will support intra-city transportation and be ready by the first quarter of 2024; While the second phase, comprising 35 CNG stations, will support inter-city transformation and will be ready by late 2024.
“This will be further complemented by an additional 56 stations to be deployed by NNPC Retail across the country,” the statement read.
NIPCO Gas Limited is currently operating 14 CNG stations across Nigeria and has converted over 7,000 vehicles to run on CNG.
“NIPCO’s technical competency and field experience will bolster this initiative’s success and amplify its positive impact on the Nation’s economy.”
According to the NNPC, this initiative will leverage Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources to bring multiple benefits to Nigerians, including access to cheaper fuel, reduced cost of transportation, reduced carbon emissions, and create new business value chains and streams of job opportunities.
NNPC Limited expects further private sector participation by oil marketing companies to broaden CNG penetration and availability.
The National oil company said it remains committed to reliably delivering energy while continuously creating value for Nigeria’s prosperous future alongside its partners.
The ICIR has earlier reported how the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have advanced negotiations with banks to support them on CNG as a proven alternative for the rising Costner of PMS.
IPMAN chairman, Chinedu Okoronkwo, assured that CNG would provide a good alternative to the PMS as its rising cost bites harder.
FOLLOWING the round-up of the group stage matches, three out of four of the African women’s football teams have scaled the hurdles from their respective groups to qualify for the knock-out stage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Out of the four African representatives that qualified for the world cup, they are Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia. Only Zambia failed to progress to the next round of 16.
The ICIR had reported that none of the four African teams won their opening matches, casting doubt on their strengths on the global stage.
But, The ICIR observed that out of the total 12 matches played by the African quartet at the ongoing FIFA women’s world cup in Australia and New Zealand, each one of them won at least one match apart from Morocco winning two in a row.
The bar chart analyses the wins, losses and draws of the 4 African teams from the group stage of the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s world cup.
Results from the group stage revealed that African sides won 5, lost 4 and drew 3 matches.
Nigeria and Cameroon are the only two African countries that have reached the knockout stage in the past. Nigeria became the first African side to progress to the knockout rounds in the USA in 1999, while Cameroon matched them in 2015 later in Canada.
It is believed this is the first time Africa had more than two teams advance from the group stage at the Women’s World Cup. However, this feat falls in the context of the tournament’s recent expansion to include more teams.
Round of 16 encounters
All three African sides qualified as the second from their groups. Due to this, they will fight tough teams to get to the top.
As the group stage commences tomorrow, 5, August, African representatives have another barrier to break. South Africa will face the Netherlands on Sunday, August 6, while, the next day, Monday, Nigeria will slug it out against England.
On Tuesday, August 8, Morroco will square against France.
NIGERIA Senior Women’s Basketball team D’Tigress have secured a spot in the final of the ongoing FIBA Afrobasketball Championship after they defeated host country, Rwanda 78-48 in Kigali.
The D’Tigres’s victory against Rwanda in the Semi-final propelled their hope to remain on course to achieve the 4th title in a row and extend their unbeaten run to 23 matches at the tournament.
The first-quarter encounter between the duo was a stroll in the pack for the D’Tigress as they won with a 16-point difference, finishing 22-6 points.
Rwanda came alive during the second quarter as they to closed the gap with 10 differences, but they were not able to keep D’ Tigress at bay from scoring. It ended 22-12 in favour of Nigeria.
The third quarter saw Rwanda take the lead as they pulled the trigger to finish 17 – 14, but despite the third-quarter victory for Rwanda, D’ Tigress overpowered in the fourth quarter to end 21-13.
Nigeria’s Amy Okonkwo netted 23 points and had 10 rebounds and 2 assists.
The last time Nigeria lost a game in the Women’s Afrobasket was in 2015 against Cameroon in the semifinals. Since then, they won the title in 2019 and 2021.
Nigeria will either face Mali or Senegal in the final on Sunday.
FOLLOWING the tragic death of a medical doctor at Odan general hospital, Lagos Island, some health workers have since gone on social media, testifying on the poor state of the elevator, which has been ongoing for over three years.
Diaso Vwaere, a medical doctor, lost her life on Tuesday, August 1, when the hospital’s elevator abruptly malfunctioned, plummeting from the ninth floor to the ground level.
Despite the crash, Vwaere’s body was hanging on a part of the elevator, fighting for her life, while it took the elevator engineers about an hour to arrive at the building and helped her out.
The hospital was, according to sources, devoid of the necessary blood for her resuscitation.
Vwaere was said to be on her way to meet a dispatch rider, who had come to deliver her food when the incident happened.
A doctor, Lase Moye, giving the account of the incident on Twitter, revealed that after the elevator crashed, the bystanders could hear her excruciating screams of pain as her forehead and other part of her body had a cut. Vware, at the moment, was said to be lying between the base of the elevator and the ground floor with the engine hanging over her.
“Called on professional engineers to come and dismantle it because any abrupt movement could let the elevator give. It took almost 40 mins for them to get there, initially, they sent representatives to dismantle it, and these guys came dressed in suit, suit? Really? when the day is over. Lol! They were at VI, VI is literally 15 mins to Marina or less. What took them so long?” Moye who in a separate post said she lives above Vweare explained.
The state of the hospital elevator has been a longstanding issue. The ICIR gathered that health workers and patients have been groaning over its bad condition for over three years.
The elevator had inadvertently stopped working on different occasions, even while carrying people. According to sources, the elevator capacity was reduced from carrying eight people to two when it started developing faults.
Another medical Doctor, Olanrewaju Aiyepola, said the incident was due to the negligence of the hospital management, saying that instead of repair of the elevator, the management always chose to patch it up.
“Particularly aggrieved because we’ve complained for a long time about this elevator. We’ve manoeuvred, managed and prayed each time we had to use it. Empty promises will be made to fix it….till it killed one of us,” Aiyepola wrote.
“We called for repairs; they’d do intermittent patching and ask us to manage it. Low-key, we lived in fear waiting for the next time we’d get stuck in the elevator. For an elevator that had a maximum capacity of 8 persons, it could only take one at a time.”
In a tweet seen by The ICIR, Medical Guard, an association of all Lagos State Medical and Dental Doctors, in 2020, tweeted about the non-functionality elevator of the hospital.
“FACT: The doctors quarters at General Hospital Lagos has 10 floors. It has a non-functional elevator and no running water. Doctors who live on the 10th floor, including pregnant women, climb the stairs multiple times daily.”
More testimonies
As news of the tragic death broke, some employees and patients have come forward, sharing their experiences of the elevator’s longstanding issues.
They all agreed that the elevator has been in a state of disrepair for several years, and some of them have experienced being trapped inside it in the past. Amidst these testimonies, some also accused the hospital management of negligence, misappropriation of priority and corruption in dealings with the hospital affairs.
The Bearded_Dr_Sina, a doctor who is popular on Twitter, while reacting to the incident, said he and his friend experienced a near-death situation on the same elevator three years ago.
“For context, three years ago, I also had the same experience on this elevator. I remember I and my friend panicking when the elevator got stuck. People have been calling for it to get fixed for three years. Now it has killed a Doctor. A Deep probe needs to be done. This can’t slide.”
Another hospital person who is most likely a staff of the hospital, Joy wrote “I got stuck in the elevator. We didn’t have a functioning pumping machine. We had to walk over those 10 floors to fetch water. I told us to strike, they sent screenshots of my message to the Oga, and he said I was a nuisance and I should go into politics if I wanted to fight.”
Colleagues stage protest
Odan Health workers protest over death of a colleague. Pc: Ayahuasca Shaman/twitter
In reaction to their colleague’s death, some young hospital workers at the Odan general hospital staged a protest regarding the unfortunate death of their colleague on Tuesday.
The workers also shut down activities of the general hospital and demanded justice over the incident. They walked down the street of the general hospital to show their displeasure.
In a viral video seen by The ICIR, the young doctors, clad in black, fiercely chanted towards the hospital directors’ who’s going to jail.’
The staff workers also raised placards with different inscriptions to demand for justice. In one of the placards seen by The ICIR, a doctor wrote; ‘the system is rigged against young doctors.”
Another doctor wrote, ‘it could have been me. “Let Doctors breathe! Dr Vwaere couldn’t breathe.”
NMA declares strike, demands justice
In a show of solidarity and call for justice, the Lagos state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has declared a strike over a colleague’s death.
The doctors’ body directed doctors working in the three government hospitals on Lagos Island to begin an indefinite strike over the death of its colleague, Vwaere Diaso.
The NMA also proclaimed five days of national mourning in the state and asked medical staff at other government-run institutions to curtail their regular schedules in remembrance of the deceased colleague.
According to the association, only emergency medical services will be rendered during that period.
The Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, the Lagos General Hospital, and the Lagos Massey Street Children’s Hospital are all expected to go on an indefinite strike.
NMA stated this in a press statement signed by its state Chairman, Benjamin Olowojebutu, and Secretary, Ismail Ajibowo, on Wednesday, August 2.
The association said the death was unfortunate, and her death pains the NMA.
“We declare a five-day statewide mourning period; we demand an immediate, unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident; all those found culpable in this matter, especially the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure Management Agency, Ms Adenike Adekambi, are all brought to justice.”
In addition, the doctors association said the blood transfusion system in Lagos State needs immediate revamping for improved service.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has reacted to the doctor’s death in a statement on its official Twitter handle on Wednesday, August 2.
In the statement, the government consoled the deceased’s family and said it has set up an inquiry to investigate the incident.
“An inquiry by a team of officials from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Lagos State Safety Commission and certified Lift and Vertical Transportation Equipment experts has commenced,” the Lagos state government said.
