The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Kuje branch in conjunction with the area council’s health department, Wednesday, provided free medical services to members of the general public in Kuje area of Abuja.
The medical services were presented at the 2021 Maiden Health Week, with the theme: “Sustaining a Healthy Workforce for Better Productivity and Efficiency in Public Service”.
Speaking to Blueprint at the event, the NULGE chairman Kuje branch, Comrade Nimrod Koce, said members were going through various health challenges including temporary incapacitation; hence the need to provide the services.
He said the union recently organised free eye screening and subsidised cost of drugs which in no small measure helped to cushion the challenges of having to pay for consultancy.
“In spite of the meager resources available to the union, it has been spurred by its members to do the best it can to deliver on the mandate despite the hurdles and sometimes brick wall it faces in the fight for our rights and privileges,” he said.
The NULGE chairman explained that the union would be relentless in adopting strategies that would engage members, the management and executive arm of the council on best labour practices of collective bargaining in order to achieve a favourable working condition for all.
“As much as we appreciate the efforts of the executive chairman Kuje area council and management staff in addressing some of our welfare challenges, a lot more needs to be done to motivate us through systematic approvals and payment of our outstanding arrears,” he said.
He said the union in conjunction with the health department would help members to know their status through the various medical screenings such as hypertension, diabetes, hepatitis, HIV, sugar, glucose, COVID-19.
Comrade Nimrod Koce said 95 percent of the equipment to be used for the exercise had been purchased by the union for members’ use, believing that with the continued support of the health department, they would make tests for blood pressure and sugar level a monthly exercise strictly for members.
In his remarks, the chairman Kuje area council, Alhaji Abdudullahi Suleiman Sabo, thanked NULGE branch for the initiative, stressing that his administration would also follow suit soon.
The chairman who was represented by his Principal Private Secretary (PPS), Abdullahi Sabo (Senior), promised to pay council workers their entitlements as soon as the resources were available.
