Group condemns attacks on former Director of Nursing Services, fingers Health Commissioner in Igumbor’s ordeal

…Urges Gov. Oborevwori to intervene, frowns at non-Deltan as Provost

… Allegations against Onojeme baseless, he came to right the wrong-Staff 

A vocal group, the Delta State Nurses’ Forum for Truth, Justice and Good Governance (NFTJGG) has condemned the manner in which the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojeme has allegedly been unleashing attacks on the re-deployed State Director of Nursing Services, Mrs. Gloria Igumbor without any plausible reason.

The group in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Amadi Nicholas made available to newsmen at Asaba, called on the State Governor to urgently intervene in the face-off the two key health personnel to prevent a disruption in the smooth administration of Nursing Services in the State.

The group alleged that since the appointment of the new Health Commissioner, there has been an undue exercise of power and high-handedness from him, a situation which the group believes has interfered with the effective delivery of the duties of the Director of Nursing Services.

The group also disclosed that Mrs. Igumbor as Director who has been administering the Nursing services in that capacity for some years now, has raised the standard of training and practice of that noble profession to an enviable height, adding that at the moment, Delta State is in the front row amongst the comity of States of the federation where Nursing institutions have been considered qualified for the upgrade of Schools of Nursing to full Colleges of Nursing Sciences.

While applauding Mrs. Igumbor’s contributions to the upliftment of the training and production of qualified Nurses in the State, pointed out that the standard and quality of nursing graduates from Delta State Nursing institutions have been highly competitive.

The group, therefore, expressed serious concern over the attitude of the new Commissioner who is seen to have unduly targeted the Director always for no justified reasons, wondering the nature of offence she has committed to warrant her current downgrade and punitive redeployment by the Commissioner.

“We can no longer accommodate the continued frosty relationship between the new Commissioner and the Director of Nursing Services, Mrs. Gloria Igumbor because it is adversely affecting the effective service delivery of that all-important sector in the State.

“Left unattended to, the situation is capable of degenerating to a level where the management of standard and quality of nursing services plus the effective training of Nurses in our institutions would be adversely affected.

That is why we are, respectfully, calling on the Executive Governor, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to intervene in what is happening in the ministry with a view to forestalling a possible breakdown of effective nursing services in the State.

“It is even more worrisome that the situation has degenerated to a level where the Director has been subjected to manipulated media prosecution and conviction without fair hearing, with all manner of unproven allegations. This, we as a group believe, will not augur well for the sustenance and promotion of the high standard and quality service delivery already put in place by the Director over the years”, the group said.

Speaking further, the group claimed to be conversant with some of the questionable issues which have been the bone of contention in the ministry, adding that the recent purported unilateral redeployments carried out by the Commissioner, particularly the purported transfer of Mrs. Igumbor to State Agency for the Control of Aids, calls for the intervention of His Excellency.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojeme was unsuccessful, however, a senior staff of the ministry who spoke to advocate.ng, but pleaded not to be mentioned debunked all the allegations against the Commissioner.

The group, however underscored its position as following:

1.That the Commissioner has no locus standi to appoint one Mrs. Bassey Enobong Gloria, a non-Deltan from Akwa Ibom State as Provost of College of Nursing Science, Agbor.

2. That the commissioner can only make recommendation to the Governor having hold consultations with the Director of Nursing services of the State.

3. The appointment and recommendation to the Governor is the exclusive right of the Director of Nursing services who will pass through the commissioner to the Governor for ratification.

4. It is expedient to mention that accreditation of colleges of Nursing throughout the country and the department of Nursing in both Federal and State Universities is purely a Nursing affair. Same is applicable to Medical School.

5. State universities and other tertiary institutions throughout the country have implemented policies that reserved the overwhelming majority of places in each entering class to indigenes students and charge higher fees for non-indigenes.

6. Discriminatory practices vary considerably in nature and in their impact upon non-indigene communities and therefore, difficult to consider out of context. Using Kaduna, Kano, Plateau and Delta State as a case study (Human right watch of Nov-Dec.2005).

Advocate.ng reports that the sustained efforts of the Director of Nursing Sciences, Mrs. Gloria Igumbor, backed by the State government, yielded positive result that secured the approval for all the four-state government-owned Schools of Nursing in Agbor, Asaba, Eku and Warri, to upgrade to the status of Colleges of Nursing Sciences.

It was also gathered that prior to the showdown between the Director of Nursing Services and the Commissioner, efforts have been at advanced stage to secure approval for the State School of Midwifery in Amukpe-Sapele to be upgraded to a College of Nursing and Midwifery Sciences.

According to him, “the only offence of Dr Onojeme was trying to right the past wrong done by the previous government which for best reasons knows to them, subverted extant civil service rule, by appointing Mrs. Gloria Igumbor, a far junior staff as Director of Nursing services of the State.

“That singulation action by the past administration created a big distortion in the system which has greatly affected the Nursing services in the State, leading to victimization of nurses who felt that what was done should not have happened,” he added.