NIGERIAN NURSES WANT N5 MILLION IN COMPENSATION AFTER SUING THE NMCN OVER A CONTENTIOUS CIRCULAR.

Babatunji Wusu –

Due to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria’s (NMCN) recent circular requiring certificate verification for nurses and midwives applying to international nursing boards or councils, Nigerian nurses have filed a lawsuit against the NMCN.
Stakeholders’ responses to the circular that the NMCN Registrar distributed on February 7, 2024, have been mixed.

The contentious circular requires qualified candidates to hold permanent practice licenses and at least two years of post-qualification experience, among other requirements. Additionally, it mandates that the Registrar/CEO of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria get letters of good standing directly from employers and prior nursing education schools.

Retaliating against the instruction, disgruntled nurses, through the Incorporated Trustees of University Graduates of Nursing Science Association, have launched a lawsuit in a Federal High Court in Enugu.

Barr Chijioke Ezeh, the plaintiffs’ attorney, filed suit under file number FHC/E/CS/22/2024.

The plaintiffs are seeking a determination that the disbanded Board of Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria prohibits the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) from issuing instructions.

They also ask for a permanent injunction prohibiting the NMCN from issuing any more directives that violate pertinent legislation, as well as the revocation of all the instructions listed in the circular dated February 7, 2024.

There is currently no scheduled hearing for the lawsuit, but the nurses are requesting general and aggravated damages totaling five million Naira (N5,000,000.00) for the restrictions and inconveniences they have experienced.