UCH Crisis Deepens as Health Workers Demand Director’s Reinstatement

UCH Strike: The Tricycle Dispute Behind the Fight Over a Pharmaceutical Director

An argument over a donated tricycle has now escalated into an indefinite strike at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

The Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, UCH chapter, began the industrial action on Wednesday, demanding the reinstatement of Dr Adeyinka Ishola, Director of Pharmaceutical Services.

But the dispute goes back much further than the strike. At its centre is a tricycle donated to the hospital’s Pharmacy Department and later sold.Ishola was removed from office following the controversy surrounding the sale.

The union says the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare subsequently became involved and investigated the matter.

According to NUAHP Chairman Oladayo Olabampe, the ministry’s investigative process did not establish that Ishola committed a fraudulent act.Instead, the union says the panel found that he failed to properly carry management along over the transaction and recommended reprimand and reinstatement.

That recommendation is now at the centre of the dispute.

Olabampe said the union was surprised that UCH management had not implemented the recommendation. The union says it issued ultimatums before beginning the indefinite strike.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the matter has now moved beyond an internal disciplinary dispute and become an industrial-relations issue capable of affecting hospital services.

That is why the resolution matters. Patients who depend on UCH services are not parties to the disagreement.

Yet they could become the most immediate casualties if the industrial action disrupts healthcare delivery.

At the same time, management and workers have legitimate institutional and employment interests that must be handled according to applicable rules.

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The appropriate resolution therefore cannot depend solely on who can exert greater pressure.

The relevant investigative report, employment regulations, disciplinary procedures and legal framework should determine the outcome.

If either party disputes the legality of the other’s action, the courts and established dispute-resolution mechanisms remain available.

Industrial disagreement is legitimate in a democratic society. But neither management nor workers should turn an institutional dispute into a contest where patients pay the price.

A lawful resolution, grounded in evidence and due process, remains the most sustainable way forward, ValidViewNetwork reports.