Health professionals and workers in Enugu State were ecstatic on Tuesday when Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi announced an increase in their Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) from 41% to 60%, effective in 2021, despite the nation’s economic, security, and public health challenges.
Governor Ugwuanyi made the announcement while speaking to a JOHESU delegation comprised of members of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), and Medical and Health Workers Sector Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) at Government House in Enugu
Members of JOHESU were at the Government House in Enugu to thank Governor Ugwuanyi for his generosity and unwavering commitment to the welfare of the state’s health workers.
In his address, the State Chairman of JOHESU, Comrade Ezekiel Omeh, told Gov. Ugwuanyi that “we are very grateful to the Almighty God who has chosen you, Your Excellency, to actualize the implementation of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for the health professionals and workers in Enugu State.”
Comrade Omeh disclosed that “CONHESS is a dream that has eluded us for the past 11 years but made real by you (Ugwuanyi) in the month of May 2021”, adding: “We thank you and salute your political wisdom to be used as a vessel to actualize God’s will. We appreciate your kind heart and show of love”.
Speaking further the JOHESU Chairman said: “Your Excellency, we are happy that today, you have placed us at par with our peers and contemporaries in the health industry who have been enjoying the CONHESS which is the appropriate Salary Scale operational in the Country since 2010.
“We are aware that in the previous times before your coming in as Governor, the Economy was good enough to implement CONHESS for us but our agitations for it then resulted in giving us more pains than relief.
“To assuage the situation, Your Excellency (Ugwuanyi) approved 10 percent CONHESS in 2018 and in 2021, you approved additional 31 percent making a total of 41 percent CONHESS.
“You also gave us COVID-19 allowance that lasted for upward of one year when other states, including Federal Government, had withdrawn the payment.
“We also appreciate your aggressive investment in the health sector in Enugu State. To mention a few, we are impressed and grateful for the transformation of Poly Clinic Asata to General Hospital, Uwani Health Centre to a General Hospital, renovation and reconstruction of Udi General Hospital, Awgu General Hospital and School of Midwifery, Awgu, reconstruction and renovation of Nsukka General Hospital, Enugu-Ezike General Hospital, the phenomenal progress in construction of permanent site of ESUT Teaching Hospital at Igbo-Eno and building of new General Hospitals in different Local Governments in the state that are ready for commissioning.
“These and other people-oriented projects are simultaneously going on in the state, all for the betterment of the health and welfare of the citizens despite the escalating harsh economic conditions and social unrest in the country.
“You have demonstrated how democratic government can be run with full participation of the citizenry, including workers. Hence our ability to get CONHESS approved and implemented Minimum Wage and its adjustment, COVID-19 allowance, 13th Month Salary all through dialogue and your show of understanding, transparency and prioritization of the welfare of workers and citizens.
“We appreciate your responsiveness to the yearnings of the people especially workers. Your disposition to govern Enugu State with the fear of God and Rule of Law has turned the state to be the most relatively peaceful state in the country and South East in particular.
In their remarks, the State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Virginus Nwobodo and Comrade Benneth Asogwa respectively, endorsed the address by the leadership of JOHESU, stressing that the workers of Enugu State deeply appreciate all that Gov. Ugwuanyi is doing for the people of the state “in this time of scarcity and economic meltdown”.
They added that it was only during Governor Ugwuanyi’s administration that Enugu State workers visited the Government House without carrying placards in protest, declaring that “we are in Government House today to register our appreciation.”
