Falana-led coalition expresses solidarity with striking health workers

The Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), a coalition of 70 labour and civil society organisations (CSOs), has expressed solidarity with striking doctors and health workers in various states across the country.

Health workers in Cross River, Ekiti and Kogi, to mention a few, embarked on industrial actions to demand better working conditions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of their demands include payment of hazard allowances, provision of protective equipment and acceptance of the scientific findings relating to COVID-19 status in the affected states.

In a statement on Tuesday, Femi Falana, chairman of the coalition, said the government in the affected states should be held responsible for the consequences of the strike actions.

He said the group rejects the introduction of politics into public health, saying the denial of COVID-19 presence by some state governments endangers citizens’ lives.

“We fully support the doctors and health workers in the affected states. We stand with them hand-in-hand. We oppose the unfortunate introduction of politics into public health. The state governors and the ruling parties in the affected states have woefully failed to live up to public expectations,” he said.

“The government of some of the affected states like Kogi and Cross Rivers will gain no trophy if they insist there is no COVID-19 presence in their states. With what has been going on around the world and in Nigeria, it is unbelievable that any community that will claim there is no COVID-19 presence. Such claims reinforce a possible illusion and put the people at greater risk.”

ASCAB said the action of Kogi and Cross Rivers governors is fueling a false sense of security among residents in both states who may be compelled to live a less cautious life.

It said the presence or absence of COVID-19 in a state is not a form of achievement, adding that the most important is to ensure public health safety and curb the spread of the virus.

“The presence or no presence of COVID-19 in any Nigerian state is not an achievement. The real honour goes to state governments that are pro-active and those that put themselves in the global context of extreme caution and not continuous denial,” it said

On Thursday, Cross River finally joined the list of states affected by the coronavirus pandemic after over four months of recording zero infection.

The confirmation came three days after Ikpeme Ikpeme, chief medical director of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), disclosed that five patients — including two health workers — tested positive for COVID-19 in the hospital.

The state government had earlier denied the cases, saying there was no confirmed COVID-19 case in the state.

ASCAB said it may be compelled to mobilise other health workers to join the striking doctors in the states.

It urged residents of states affected by the strike action to realise that the doctors are fighting for the public good and urged them to show solidarity by putting pressure on the state governors to act responsibly.