The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, NAFDAC branch, isn’t backing down from its strike until their demands are met, because apparently, when promises are broken, actions speak louder than words. In an interview with NAN on Saturday, the union’s chapter chairman, Adetoboye Ayodeji, made it clear that the ball is in NAFDAC’s court. It’s now up to the agency’s management to come to the negotiation table and prove they’re serious about fixing the mess they’ve created.
Why It Matters
Workers at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) began an indefinite strike on October 7, demanding a review of the 2024 promotion examinations. The union is up in arms over allegations that most of the staff were denied promotions due to a mysterious “vacancy slot” from the Head of Service, even though the workers were fully qualified for a well-deserved promotion. But apparently, being qualified doesn’t mean much these days.
Ayodeji didn’t hold back, accusing NAFDAC of not paying statutory arrears and other benefits owed to employees hired back in 2022. To make matters worse, there was already an agreement signed in 2022 between the government, the union, and NAFDAC management on workers’ conditions of service—an agreement that, shockingly, hasn’t been honored.
What They Are saying
“The agreement was supposed to be settled by December 2022, but here we are in 2024, and nothing has been done. Allowances that were supposed to be approved by the end of 2022 remain in limbo, and the condition of service? Forget about it,” Ayodeji lamented. But what’s even more infuriating is that NAFDAC has been recruiting for positions while claiming there are no vacancies for current staff to be promoted. That’s right, outsiders are coming in to fill roles that, by all logic, should be going to those who’ve worked their way up through the ranks.
Ayodeji was blunt about the numbers: out of over 700 staff who took the promotion exams, only 220 were promoted, just 36%. The union said enough is enough and rejected the entire promotion exercise. How can there be motivation when only a third of the workforce is rewarded for their hard work? It’s like telling employees their loyalty and effort are worth nothing.
And don’t think this only affects NAFDAC workers. As Ayodeji pointed out, this lack of motivation among staff is bound to have disastrous consequences on the health of over 200 million Nigerians. After all, how can a demoralized workforce effectively safeguard the nation’s food and drug standards?
Then there’s the issue of allowances that have been hanging for more than two decades. Despite countless letters and notices sent to NAFDAC management, the union received no clear answers or explanations. Before the strike, they even issued a two-week notice, but apparently, it fell on deaf ears.
NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, wasn’t going to let these allegations slide without a response. In a statement to NAN, she denied all the claims, insisting that the agency had been playing by the book when it comes to arrears and estacode payments. Adeyeye reiterated NAFDAC’s supposed commitment to the workers’ welfare—though the union might beg to differ, given the current situation.
Bottom Line
The question remains: How long will NAFDAC management continue to avoid the real issues? And how long will workers be expected to endure poor treatment while the leadership stalls on addressing these long-standing concerns? Clearly, the time for real action has long passed.
