Justice Firstina Iyabode Kola-Olaleye of the National Industrial Court (NIC) sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state has fixed January 13,2005 for next hearing in the current legal action instituted by five unions of Allied Health workers against the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on the legality of NMA members to henceforth embark on industrial strike.
The five unions ,namely Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria(MHWUN),National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives(NANNM), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions(SSATHRIAI),Nigerian Union of Health Professionals(NUAHP) and Non Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated
Institutions(NASU), dragged the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and its National President, Kayode Obembe,a medical doctor before the court , seeking , among others, perpetual injunction on the NMA members from embarking on any form of industrial action, be it work to rule or any form of protest that will prevent them from rendering their professional services to the general public.
They also insisted ithat NMA and its National President are not trade union organizations ,pleading with the court to declare the last July nationwide strike by NMA members as illegal, unconstitutional, unprofessional and ultra vires.
The judge however gave the new date on Tuesday’s hearing after Rita –Morris Shittu who is a counsel to Attorney General and Health Minister who are also defendants in the case, pleaded with the court to exempt the duo from being defendants in the case. She had moved the motion to that effect, pleading that as employers of labour, the duo should not be seeing as meddling in inter union affairs.
Shittu’s motion was equally supported by Ekwere-Bello Ikemhe who is a counsel for Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity likewise, Ranti Ajeleti, counsel for the five unions ,did not object to the motion but told the court that his intention was to amend his earlier claim which would have taken care of the motion.
Also at the hearing, Obembe’s counsel who also served as counsel for NMA, Abibat Bankole , had informed the court of her motion challenging its jurisdiction to handle the case, stating that the case ought to have been entertained in Abuja since all the parties in the case have their offices in Abuja.
She further noted also that NMA members were back on duty and not on the strike which formed a major case.
However,the presiding judge assured that all issues raised by the counsels would be looked into, adding that she would want the case to be dispensed with within three or four months.
In the suit,apart from the NMA and its National President, other defendants in the case include Incorporated Trustees of the NMA, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Registrar, Trade Unions and the Attorney General of the Federation.
READ ALSO: Again, Ghana trade union wants Nigeria retailers, others kicked out
Other reliefs being sought by the Allied Health workers from the NIC include a declaration that it is only trade union organizations that can declare trade disputes, down tools embark on strike , work to rule and stage protest, adding that the court should declare as illegal, for the NMA and its National President to forcefully eject and drive out patients waiting for treatment in public hospitals.
The five unions also want the court to declare that the NMA and its National President have no legal right to disrupt the career progression of their members in public hospitals, federal medical centres and health institutions .
The unions are, in all, seeking eight reliefs from the court which they have supported with a twenty-three paragraph affidavit. SSATHRIAI General Secretary, Moshood Oladimeji Akinade,also disposed to a twenty-seven paragraph statement of oath to further establish the unions’ case, declaring “Provision of health services in hospitals is a relay race job and failure of one leg of the relay quartet to perform its duties would lead to disastrous end for patients.”
REMI FEYISIPO
