The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, urged the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) not to implement its revised guidelines for issuing verification certificates to nurses and midwives in the country.
Nurses and midwives, under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, had expressed concern that the NMCN’s revised guidelines for certificate verification was targeted at preventing them from going abroad in search of greener pastures.
They are particularly uncomfortable with the provision in the guidelines that a nurse seeking NMCN certification must have a minimum of two years post-qualification experience.
They are also opposed to the requirement that a nurse applying for NMCN’s certification must obtain a letter of good standing from the Chief Executive Officer of their place of work and the last training institution attended while the processing of application shall take a minimum of six months.
Wading in on Tuesday, the House of Representatives called on the council to suspend its plan to commence the implementation of the revised guidelines on 1 March 2024.
The intervention by the lawmakers followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the member representing Ikorodu Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot/Akara Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Patrick Umoh.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the debate, Umoh acknowledged the concerns, protests, and stiff opposition of nurses to the implementation of the NMCN’s revised guidelines.
He said the verification of certificates was to confirm and authenticate an already existing certificate issued by the council, adding that the requirement for two years of post-qualification experience before verification of the certificate was unreasonable, arbitrary, and unfair.
The lawmaker said the initiative would, among other things, restrict the freedom of nurses seeking education or additional skills and training in foreign universities.
“The requirement that applicants for verification must obtain a letter of good standing from the Chief Executive Officer of the applicant’s place of work is capable of creating forced labour and modern slavery as an applicant will be forced to be subjected to the whims and caprices of applicant’s employer”, Umoh said.
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committees on Health Institutions and Legislative Compliance to investigate the controversy surrounding the revised guidelines and report to the House within six weeks.
The committee was also directed to ensure compliance with the directive that the NMCN must not go ahead with the implementation pending the probe by the lawmakers.
Reacting, the Deputy National President of NANNM, Abubakar Shehu, expressed excitement to the decision of the House.
“We are excited about the decision of the House of Representatives. We engaged the Registrar of the council yesterday (Monday) and even before yesterday, the President and General Secretary of NANNM interfaced with him, and suggested a larger house meeting which we did yesterday, and we told him our position; we told him we were not happy with the circular.
“Secondly, we are a major stakeholder in the game and we need to put our heads together. We have a lot of nurses in the labour market, and the government is not employing these people. So they (nurses) have to look for alternatives and that is why they are moving out of the country.
“So, we are happy that the House of Assembly made the decision”, he said.
Earlier, the President of the association, Michael Nnachi, clarified that the leadership of the association was not consulted prior to the release of the circular for the review of the verification guidelines and requirements and the position of NANNM was for the circular to be withdrawn.
Nnachi said, “The leadership of the association promptly engaged the NMCN through a series of meetings to address the critical issues and the council agreed to review all the issues raised by the association”.
He added that the national leadership of the association would continue to engage the Federal Government on their demands.
