THE newly recruited nurses and midwives in Kaduna State have called on the state Governor, Senator Uba Sani, to intervene and pay their eight-month salary arrears.
The over 200 health workers were recruited by the state government in June 2023 on a salary grade level 7 and posted to General Hospitals across the state.
This newspaper gathered that they (nurses) worked for months without being paid salaries until recently when they were paid February, March and April salaries while the remaining eight months salary arrears were pending.
Some of the affected nurses claimed there were deductions in their February, March and April salaries paid to them, contrary to the amount written on their appointment letters without explanation from the ministry.
One of the nurses, who simply identified herself as Ummul Tani for fear of being victimised, said, “We have not been paid our 8 months’ salary arrears which we worked for because we started work in June 2023 but started receiving salary from February 2024.
“We have single mothers and divorces among us who fend for themselves and their kids. One can only imagine the stress they go through to provide for the family.”
She also begged Governor Sani to intervene to make sure they fully receive their pending arrears soon, adding that some of them posted to rural areas had to pay for rent, feeding, and transportation as well.
Another affected midwife, who identified herself as nurse Abu, said she had been struggling very hard going to her workplace at Kakuri.
According to her, she spends N1,400 to and from her community to the workplace daily.
“Almost all my salary goes to transportation and the work burden is too demanding. Let them pay us our 8-month arrears and increase our salary because the burden is too much on us,” she said.
The Chairman of National Association of Nurses and Midwife, Kaduna Chapter, Ishaku Yakubu, confirmed the unpaid salary arrears.
“We are aware but we are pursuing their arrears for them because I have gone to the office of Head of Service to talk about it,” he said.
The state Commissioner for Health, Umma K. Ahmed said it is the mandate of the Office of the Head of Service (OHOS) to pay salaries of state civil servants.
“I facilitated their onboarding to start receiving their salaries, but it is the mandate of the OHOS to pay salaries of every civil servant in the state, as well as arrears,” she said in a text message sent to our reporter.