as the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) strike, which started on 16, November, 2014, enters its third month, the medical students at the University of Calabar (UNCIAL) have cried out on the adverse effects the strike is having on their academic pursuit.
Speaking with Campusbeats, some of them lamented how much the strike had cost them.
A 400-Level student at the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Blessing Akpan, said that the students have been bearing the brunt since the on-going strike by the health workers began, and called on the Federal Government to kindly intervene in the matter.
“The strike has denied us the opportunity of embarking on our three-months’ intensive laboratory posting and internship, which is always done by 400 level students of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science at the UNICAL teaching hospital. All the laboratories have been closed for over two months now due to the strike.
Idara Effiong, another 400-Level student of the Department of Nursing Science, also lamented over the strike, saying that it had prolonged her years of graduation.
Idara said her ward round posting could not be completed since the nurses were on strike and equally pleaded with the government to look into the matter.
Likewise, students of the Departments of Radiography and Radiological Sciences were also affected by the strike.
A final year student of the Department of Histopathology, Johnson Daniel, while speaking with Campusbeats, decried the exorbitant expenses he has made as a result of embarking on his research work in the private laboratories, due to the ongoing strike.
Daniel also added that the private laboratories were taking advantage of the strike to exploit students and staff who come to their laboratories to analyse their samples.
He concluded that he was afraid that this year’s set of graduates might lack practical experiences, since they could not complete their postings in the laboratories.
The unions under the auspices of the JOHESU include; the Medical and Health Workers Unions of Nigeria, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, and the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutions and Associated Institutions.
Others are the Nigeria Union of Pharmacists, Technologists and Professions Allied to Medicine and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.
The workers, who have been at loggerheads with the government since November 16, are demanding among other contentious issues, the implementation the National Industrial Court judgment.
The court, in its judgment, stated that JOESHU members should continue to skip Consolidated Health Salary Structure, that specialists llowance should be paid to JOHESU, and that JOHESU members should continue to be recognised as consultants, while retirement age of health workers be reviewed upward from 60 to 65 years of age.
They are also seeking a change of section 5 of the National Health Bill, which deals with the composition of the National Council of Health.
Ekemini Raymond