There is mild drama at the
Federal Neuropsychiatic Hospital Enugu, as the embattled Medical Director, Dr.
Jojo Onwukwe has been kicked out by the workers.
Onwukwe, who was suspended by the
Board of the Hospital, suddenly staged a come back to resume duties.
He is said to be in a last minute
attempt to install his cronny as successor.
Onwukwe
was suspended on 10th January, 2019 by the Hospital Board over a wide range of
issues.
A letter to that effect, which
was addressed to the Minister of Health, was obtained by DAILY POST.
The letter, which chronicled some
of Onwukwe’s poor management activities was signed by the Board chairman, Hon.
Shaban Ohimoni Shuaibu.
He recalled in the letter that
“Onwukwe was arrested during the inauguration of the Board of the Federal
health institutions in March, 2018 and after I stood surety to have him
released, he jumped bail.
“You will also recall that the
Board frequently had to resolve industrial and serious interpersonal
differences, first a local strike at the beginning of our tenure, and most
recently rowdy protest by workers during the last board meeting because of his
refusal to comply with my advice to pay and offset staff claims emanating from
promotion arrears, interdiction and other shortfalls in their emoluments.
“Dr. Onwukwe has refused to
implement board decisions, instead he gives counter directives to the staff and
withholds correspondences, ignores phone calls and text messages of the
chairman and members of the Board, even going as far as summoning Board
members, including the chairman, to meetings on his own assumed authority.
“Matters came to a head when he
tried to usurp or scuttle the process of selection of a new Medical Director
refusing to call Board meeting to ratify the report of the Appointment
Promotion and Disciplinary Committees on the process and instead invited the
ministry, summoned the Board and invited shortlisted candidates for an
interview and deliberately refused to invite the Federal Character Commission
that has a constitutional mandate to monitor the process of recruitment
exercise of this magnitude.
“Confronted with his misdeeds, he
walked out on the board, leaving behind several disgruntled workers.
“Consequently, the Board has
resolved to suspend him indefinitely to create room for the selection of a new
Medical Director.”
DAILY POST reports that Onwukwe
had on Monday commenced moves to return to the Hospital two weeks after his
suspension.
He sent advanced team of
policemen, an action that provoked the Hospital workers.
They quickly mobilized to the
gate where they all laid in wait for the Medical Director, vowing not to let
him in. He was not seen throughout the day.
However, on Tuesday, he
eventually stormed the Hospital and ended into the waiting hands of the
workers, who made real their threat and bundled him out of the Hospital.
Speaking on the developments, Mr.
Friday, secretary of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union, Ozurumba Anthony,
Chairman of the Senior Civil Servants’ Association in the Hospital and Dr.
Udeagha Charles, President of the National Association of Resident Doctors
vowed that they would not allow a return to the dark days.
“Our stand is very clear; for more
than 8 years we have had crisis in this Hospital over the bad leadership of the
Medical Director; we have tried times without number to resolve the differences
amicably but he refused.
“Due to his stubbornness, and
fortunately for us, the Board of the Hospital suspended him and now, instead of
him to honourable bow out, he is making desperate moves to come back but the
entire workforce are in one voice. The JOHESU members, other workers, the
doctors are in one accord- on no account should he come back.
For Ozurumba, “That is why
workers have come out today to resist that.
“He has destroyed the
institution. We cried for several years to be included in IPPIS but refused;
all the welfare issues were neglected by this man.
“There is no light here, there is
no water. If you go to our lab, there is nothing to work with. Our pharmacy is
a shadow of itself.
“We know that there is no letter
asking him to come back. We have called the ministry, we have called the Board
chairman and we confirmed that he was never reinstated.”
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