Striking NAFDAC Workers Vow To Continue As Importers Count Losses

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Striking staff members of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, have vowed not to blink until their demands are fully met.

The workers, under the aegis of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria. MHWUN, had, on October 7, 2024, declared an indefinite industrial action to press home their demands.

The Source reports that some of the demands centre on the call  for the review of the 2024 promotion exercise, the payment of statutory arrears and benefits spanning from 2022, and the unwillingness of NAFDAC Management to fulfill the terms of an agreement reached with the workforce in 2022.

In a statement issued on Saturday October 19, 2024, by Adetoboye Ayodeji, Chairman of the Kaduna Chapter, MHWUN insisted that Government and NAFDAC Management must revisit the 2024 promotion exercise for peace to reign.

He informed that out of about 700 staff members that took part in the promotion examination, only about 200 were promoted.

The figure, he noted, represents a paltry 36 per cent of the total number of participants in the promotion examination.

Ayodeji said that increasing the percentage to 80 will calm frayed nerves for now.

He lamented that rather than promoting staff who sat and passed the examination, NAFDAC Management, allegedly, opted to recruit outsiders for the same vacant positions which existing staffers can conveniently fill.

“We rejected the entire promotion process and demanded that more staff be promoted. How can there be motivation in an agency where only 36% of staff get promoted.

This will have a devastating effect on morale, ultimately impacting the health of 200 million Nigerians” the MHWUN-NAFDAC Chairman, Kaduna Chapter stated.

Ayodeji also faulted the Management’s foot-dragging  in fulling its 2022 agreement with the staff, noting that it was intended to straighten issues concerning the general working conditions of the workers.

“Allowances that were supposed to be approved by December, 2022, have still not been approved and the conditions of Service remain unapproved”

Furthermore, Ayodeji claimed that several efforts made for the Management to respect the terms of the agreement, including the writing of numerous letters have remained unsuccessful.

He, therefore, maintained that the strike action will remain in force until the issues surrounding it are resolved.

Ironically, however, the Management of the regulatory agency has continued to plead non- culpability, insisting that it has remained faithful in the implementation of its statutory obligations to the workers.

Meanwhile, the strike action has continued to exact serious negative impact on operational activities at the various sea ports across the county because of stockpiles of uncleared cargoes.

NAFDAC’s examinations are part of the regulatory measures required for imported cargoes to be released

Stakeholders have been lamenting difficulties in cargo clearance at the Ports, resulting in port congestions across the country.

Many importers of consumables and perishable products are said to be currently counting  huge losses due to the delay in clearing their cargoes

Some importers are also worried that the strike action may lead to their cargoes incurring demurrages far beyond their reach.