FMOH workers protest against Perm Sec Shamaki

Dozens of workers in the federal health ministry marched to the Head of the Civil Service in central Abuja to protest against their own permanent secretary Amina Shamaki and her handling of staff affairs at FMOH. They demanded the Head of Service (HOS) to post a “knowledgeable and competent permanent secretary” to run FMOH. The […]

Dozens of workers in the federal health ministry marched to the Head of the Civil Service in central Abuja to protest against their own permanent secretary Amina Shamaki and her handling of staff affairs at FMOH.

They demanded the Head of Service (HOS) to post a “knowledgeable and competent permanent secretary” to run FMOH.

The workers, who were met by Innocent Ogbonnaya, permanent secretary for career management office at HOS, flayed the choice of doctors to occupy the top three sensitive posts in the ministry, insisting that was the cause of its problems.

Hassan Habba, who led the protesters, said, “To our dismay, whether it happened in error, the Permanent Secretary is a medical doctor, the Minister is a medical doctor, the Minister of State is a medical doctor, we have a problem. You must give us somebody who will serve as an arbiter between these two people. We need an experienced person to lead that ministry. That is why we are having problem here.”

Among grievances they levelled against Shamaki, who was formerly worked with the HOS, the workers said their welfare at FMOH was “not recognised”.

“The Head of Service I know vividly doesn’t joke with the welfare of its staff, which is a priority. But, for us in the Federal Ministry of Health, the welfare is not recognized as anything. In Federal Ministry of Health today, the staff are using their money to service government functions,” Habba said.

He said the union had several time submitted its grievances to the ministry authorities but any resolution was stampeded.

Ogbonnaya told the workers in response, “Some of the issues are known to us. Some we have tried to solve, and a few of them are new. That is the truth.”

“These ones we are hearing for the first time, we will ask questions. We will know what the problems are, and will find solutions to them.”

But he refused to be drawn on Shamaki, insisting, “I am a permanent secretary myself. I cannot begin to make pronouncement on that, but I will convey your grievances to the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation as soon as possible.”

The federal health ministry is yet to comment.