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Japa: FG approves contract appointments for retired healthcare workers

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The Federal Government has approved the appointment of doctors, nurses, and other clinical healthcare workers as contract staff after attaining their compulsory retirement age or years in service.

This is part of efforts to mitigate the mass exodus of health workers to developed countries, which has led to an acute shortage of health professionals in the nation’s health sector.

The approval was contained in a circular dated 5 October and issued by the Federal Ministry of Health.

In the circular, the government directed all chief executive officers of agencies, chief medical directors, medical directors, and heads of regulatory bodies and schools to ensure strict compliance with a previous circular issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to all staff within their respective institutions.

This development follows a prior circular dated 30 August from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF).

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The circular, titled ‘Re: Review of retirement age to 65 and 70 years for health professionals and medical/dental consultants,’ with reference number HCSF/SPSO/ODD/CND/100/S./145, was addressed to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health.

The circular, signed by Olufemi Oloruntoba, the Permanent Secretary of the Service Policies and Strategies Office, on behalf of the HCSF, expressed the rejection of the proposed increase in retirement age for medical and dental consultants and other health professionals.

It cited several reasons for the rejection including the fact that healthcare professionals were leaving the country not due to their retirement age but primarily because of financial considerations and unfavourable working conditions.

“Some state government had already increased the retirement age of medical doctors and other health workers and this has not addressed the spate of brain drain,” it said.

The circular expressed dissatisfaction with the work ethic of healthcare workers, despite the government’s efforts to encourage them.

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However, in a significant move, the circular also approved that clinical health workers who have reached their compulsory retirement age or years of service may be offered contract appointments.

These contract appointments would be on the same salary scale level that they retired on, provided the healthcare worker desires and deserves it.

The circular calls on the government to engage with relevant bodies, such as the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the Nigerian Medical Association, to secure a commitment from medical doctors.

It also calls for the establishment of an effective performance management system within the public service to enhance the work ethics of medical officers, consultants, and doctors.

“To address the observed dissatisfaction with the attitude of health workers to work, there is a need to institutionalise an effective performance management system in the public service in order to improve the work ethics of the medical officers and consultant, and medical doctors should show more patriotism in the discharge of their duties and avoid holding the system to ransom,” the circular also said.

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The circular emphasised the importance of medical professionals showing greater patriotism in the discharge of their duties and refraining from actions that could disrupt the healthcare system.

Nigeria’s health sector is currently grappling with severe shortage of skilled personnel, resulting from the mass departure of healthcare professionals.

A 2022 UK immigration report showed that 13,609 Nigerian healthcare workers (including doctors) were granted working visas in the past year, making the country second only to the 42,966 from India.

As of October 2022, the Nigeria Medical Association disclosed that only 24,000 licensed medical doctors were available in the country, lamenting that only one doctor is available to treat 30,000 patients in some southern states, while in the north, it is one doctor to 45,000 patients.

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Police interrogates Mohbad’s PA, Darosha over singer’s death

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Boluwatife Adeyemo, also known as Darosha, who was the Personal Assistant to the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, has been interrogated by the Nigeria Police Force.

According to reports, Darosha visited the Zone 2 Command headquarters on Thursday following a police invitation.

Also present at the meeting were Mohbad’s mother, Abosede and his father, Joseph.

 

The lawyer of Aloba’s family, Monisola Odumosu, who disclosed this on Saturday, said Darosha was invited to name those who instructed him to embalm the late singer in his home when he died on September 12, 2023.

Odumosu said, “The police invited Darosha and interrogated him based on a petition written and signed by Emmanuel Oroko of the Hillceetee Partners on the instruction of Mohbad’s father.

 

“He had visited alone earlier in the week, but was asked to return on Thursday when Mohbad’s father and mother would be present, which he did.”

Odumosu disclosed further that a statement was taken from Darosha in which he mentioned those who were present when the deceased was embalmed.

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The lawyer added that the police had invited those mentioned in the statement.

“Those present at the residence of the late Ilerioluwa Aloba when the embalmment was done will appear before the investigation panel of the police.

“The local embalmment violates the Coroner’s System Law 2007: Section 48 of this law addresses the offences and penalties of tampering with a dead body contrary to Section 16.

“The police, upon interrogating Darosha, have asked all those mentioned in his statement to be brought in for further interrogation. When Mohbad died, there were allegations that he was given local embalming without authorisation from his father or a death certificate from any medical practitioner who could certify the cause of the death of the late singer,” he added.

 

Mohbad’s father had alleged that his son’s body was already embalmed and placed by the staircase when he arrived at the deceased’s home the day he died.

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He made this known while calling on the police to intensify the investigation to unravel the cause of his son’s death.

Mohbad died on September 12 at the age of 27, with the circumstances surrounding his death sparking controversies on social media.

Mohbad, a former record label signee of Marlian Music owned by Naira Marley, left the label in February 2022.

The Lagos State Police Command inaugurated on September 18, 2023, a 13-man special investigation team to probe the death.

His death also led to the arrest of Naira Marley and controversial Lagos socialite Balogun Eletu, aka Sam Larry, amongst others.

The body of Mohbad was exhumed on September 21, 2023, for an autopsy to unravel the cause of his death.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, tweeted in September 2023 that an autopsy had been concluded and the police were “awaiting results.”

The toxicology test carried out to determine the cause of death of the late music star had been concluded.

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The result had been sent to the pathologist who carried out the autopsy to analyse and interpret it.

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Oba Elegushi serenades second wife on fifth wedding anniversary

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Oba Saheed Elegushi, the 21st Elegushi of the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom, has displayed his romantic side by celebrating his second wife, Hadiza Yakasai, on his official social media handles.

The 48-year-old monarch married Olori Hadiza, a Kano indigene, at the Jumaat Mosque in Yankaba, Kano State, in May 2019.

 

Oba Saheed Elegushi, the 21st Elegushi of the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom celebrates his second wife, Hadiza Yakasai,
Oba Saheed Elegushi, the 21st Elegushi of the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom celebrates his second wife, Hadiza Yakasai,
She is the daughter of Kano political figure Tanko Yakasai and a business development manager at an oil and gas industry firm.


Five years later, Oba Elegushi, with unwavering commitment, has reflected on their love story while pledging his steadfast commitment to their union.

 

His anniversary post read: “Reaching a five-year anniversary signifies more than just half a decade together; it’s a testament to strong commitment and enduring love. Our fifth anniversary is a milestone of over 1,800 days of friendship and nonstop love. Thank you for choosing to share this amazing journey with me. Happy five-year anniversary, my Queen.”

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Olori Hadiza, who leads a private life, is inactive on social media.

He married his first wife, Olori Sekinat, in 2003. Seven years later, he ascended the throne after his father, Oba Yekini Adeniyi Elegushi, passed on.

They have three daughters.


Two years after Oba Elegushi took Hadiza as his second wife, his first wife, Olori Sekinat, shared her feelings about the situation. PREMIUM TIMES reported how she described the decision as a ‘bitter pill to swallow’.

She expressed her disbelief and initial resistance to sharing her husband with another woman. However, she eventually accepted it as part of the sacrifices and demands that come with the throne.

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Journalist hit by ‘stray bullet’ at Kano government house

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A journalist with Abubakar Rimi Television (ARTV), Naziru Idris Yau, has been hit by a stray bullet inside the government house in Kano state.

It was gathered that the incident occurred around 6:30pm on Friday.

The journalist was said to have been immediately rushed to the government house clinic for treatment.

 

The medical personnel at the clinic said the journalist was lucky because the bullet was not shot at close range.

 

The journalist was subsequently discharged after the site of injury was treated.

The origin of the stray bullet is yet to be ascertained but police officers attached to the government house have commenced an investigation into the matter.

The Kano state government is yet to release an official statement regarding the incident.

 

The incident, which happened on the 2024 World Press Freedom Day, brings to the fore the threats journalists face in Nigeria.

 

Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), is currently being detained by the police over an allegation bordering on “cybercrime”.

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Ojukwu has been in police custody since May 1.

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