The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, has suspended its seven-day nationwide strike, billed to end on August 5.

Confirming the development to AIT’s Abulu Osemuaghu via telephone, NANNM’s General Secretary, Thomas Shettima said nurses and midwives are directed to resume work immediately.

Shettimah said the strike was suspended after a virtual meeting of NANNM’s National Executive Council on Saturday afternoon to review the outcome of the meeting with the coordinating minister of health and social welfare, Mohammed Pate

On Friday, the leadership of NANNM met with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Office of the Head of Service, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Office of the Accountant General, the National Salaries and Wages Commission and other relevant stakeholders to address its members’ demands.

A circular titled “Suspension of the Ongoing Nationwide Nurses’ Strike” and signed by the association’s National President, Haruna Mamman, and General Secretary, Thomas Shettima, has also confirmed the development.

The circular stated that NEC resolved to suspend the strike after an extensive review of the Memorandum of Understanding and the agreed time-bound implementation framework.

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The circular partly read, “NEC acknowledges the positive steps taken by the Federal Government in responding to the nine core demands of NANNM, particularly the commitment to clear timelines for implementation.

It directed NANNM’s national leadership to continue monitoring the implementation of the signed MoU and track the government’s compliance with the agreed timelines.

The statement says further that state councils are directed to mobilise members for the immediate resumption of duty.

The circular stated that NANNM at its NEC meeting resolved that none of its members, including interns and locum nurses, should be victimised for participating in the nationwide strike.

On Wednesday, nurses and midwives in the country embarked on a seven-day warning strike to press home their long-standing demands, including an upward review of shift allowance, adjustment of uniform allowance, a separate salary structure for nurses, an increase in core duty allowance, mass recruitment of nurses, and the establishment of a nursing department in the Federal Ministry of Health, among others.

(Editor: Okechukwu Eze)