NAFDAC Mgt Dialogues with Union as Strike by  Staff Enters Day Two 

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The industrial action embarked upon workers of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) entered the second day today (Tuesday) just as the management of the agency continued with  efforts to resolve their grievances.

The staff has declared an indefinite strike starting from  yesterday  to protest management’s failure to uphold an agreement signed in 2022, which addressed the workers’ welfare and promotion issues.

The strike called by NAFDAC’s  Council of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), came after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to  management, which failed to address key grievances raised by the union.

However, the agency said that it wadded into the matter, pledging that in a few days, the issues will be resolved.

NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, who spoke to THISDAY regarding the strike last night, said the Director General of NAFDAC Prof.  Mojisola Adeyeye, has  initiated talks with the leadership of workers union with a view to resolving the dispute.

He said: ‘I want to assure you that talks are ongoing to find a common ground on the demands of the union leaders. 

‘The DG Prof Mojisola Adeyeye doesn’t take her staff for granted, and that’s why she, at every opportunity, appreciates them for making her proud. 

“She always says that she wouldn’t have achieved all that she has been able to achieve in NAFDAC without the support and resilience of the staff. She’s someone who doesn’t take issues of staff comfort with kids’ gloves. As we speak, talks are ongoing. 

“In a few days, the matter will be resolved, and everyone will go back to his or her duty post. It’s a matter between mother and her children. It will soon be resolved”.

Top on the workers’ grievances is the agency’s failure to promote a significant number of staff members who participated in the 2024 promotion interviews.

But NAFDAC management cited a lack of vacancies, leaving more than 500 eligible employees without the promotions they had earned.

The Secretary of the union, Comrade Salih Ahmed Aledeh had said in statement said that the workers had exhausted all avenues of negotiation before embarking on the strike.

Among the union’s other grievances was NAFDAC management’s failure to uphold an agreement signed in 2022, which addressed the workers’ welfare and promotion issues.

The union’s leadership said  that these unresolved matters have left them with no choice but to embark on industrial action.

But Aledeh said that the success of this strike will depend on workers’ collective resolve.

 “Our zonal coordinators and state representatives have been directed to mobilise members across all formations to ensure full compliance.”

Stakeholders are, however, worried that that the indefinite strike will disrupt NAFDAC’s operations, potentially affecting the regulation of food and drug products across the country.