"IT IS OUR RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE": ENUGU HEALTH WORKERS CRITICIZE GOVERNOR PETER MBAH OVER UNFULFILLED 100% CONHESS AND HAZARD ALLOWANCE PROMISES

Tension and discontent continue to brew across Enugu State's public healthcare sector as workers under the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) strongly criticized Governor Peter Mbah's administration for leaving lower-level hospital staff behind despite repeated public commitments. Speaking after an emergency union meeting in Enugu, MHWUN State Chairperson, Comrade Nnenna Juliet Oraedu, declared that the implementation of the approved 100 percent Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) is an earned right rather than a government favor.

​The union expressed deep frustration over what it described as gross unfairness in the distribution of state healthcare benefits. According to Comrade Oraedu, despite Governor Mbah’s explicit public promise during the 2026 May Day celebration to pay hazard allowances across the board, the administration selectively disbursed funds to members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), while completely ignoring MHWUN members.

​"Our national president came here and made a similar plea. In 2026, the governor promised to pay hazard allowance, but went ahead and started paying NMA, NANNM and other health unions without including MHWUN. It remains only us. This is quite unfair. Those cleaners, porters and mortuary attendants in the hospitals need help. They go to the same market, and their children attend the same schools as other workers’ children. Our health workers are suffering without compensation."

​The union leadership also condemned alleged bureaucratic maneuvers by state officials attempting to detach animal health practitioners from MHWUN's bargaining structure. Oraedu argued that workers managing livestock and zoonotic disease control face severe daily biological risks and belong strictly within the health workforce structure. Pointing to neighboring Abia State, where full CONHESS implementation was extended to all healthcare cadres, MHWUN urged the Enugu State Government to stop treating essential support staff as inferior human beings.

​To press home their demands for justice and financial equity, MHWUN announced a peaceful state-wide prayer rally scheduled for Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at the Ministry of Health Secretariat. The union warned that failing to address the welfare of all healthcare personnel erodes workplace motivation and undermines the state's overall healthcare system.