• Doctors
• Dr. Ali Pate
• HURIWA
• Igbo
• President Tinubu
• UCTH

HURIWA URGED TINUBU, HEALTH MINISTER TO INTERVENE OVER ALLEGED REJECTION of 17 IGBO HOUSE OFFICERS AT UCTH

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  Caroline Ameh / 1 week
• 0
• 4 min read

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene in the controversy surrounding the alleged rejection of 17 newly posted medical house officers at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Cross River State, over claims of ethnic discrimination. In a statement issued on Monday, HURIWA urged the President to direct the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Ali Pate, to immediately resolve the situation, which it described as “criminal, unconstitutional and dangerous to national unity.” The group also demanded the dissolution of the Governing Board of UCTH and the dismissal of the hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), accusing the management of promoting tribalism and ethnic division in the federal public service. HURIWA further condemned the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for what it described as silence over the allegations involving the 17 house officers who were reportedly posted to UCTH but later rejected by the hospital management. According to HURIWA, the affected doctors, who were posted to UCTH through the MDCN online portal, arrived in Calabar from different parts of the country to begin their mandatory one-year housemanship, only to be informed that the hospital would not clear them for resumption. One of the affected house officers, who spoke in Calabar, said they reported to the hospital on a Monday in line with the instructions in their posting letters, which required them to resume within two weeks. “There was no indication that the hospital had rejected us or that clearance was conditional,” the doctor said. The doctors alleged that problems began when they reported to the administrative unit of the hospital, where officials informed them that UCTH management had written to the MDCN complaining about “discrepancies” in the posting list. According to the house officers, hospital officials questioned why 15 of the 17 doctors were from the same ethnic group, why there was no indigene of Cross River State on the list, and why only 17 names were posted when the hospital reportedly had capacity for 50 house officers. “They openly complained about the number of Igbos on the list. At a point, we were told that people from a particular tribe were saturating the hospital,” one of the doctors alleged. The house officers also claimed that the hospital accused some of them of paying to secure postings, an allegation they said was never substantiated. “They said they had evidence that people paid to get slots, but no proof was shown. Instead of investigating those involved, they rejected all of us,” the source added. As a result of the rejection, the affected doctors said many of them were left stranded after relocating to Calabar, with some reportedly sleeping on bare floors in makeshift spaces within the hospital premises due to lack of accommodation and uncertainty over their status. Reacting to the development, HURIWA condemned what it described as “ethnic chauvinism” at UCTH, stressing that such tendencies have no place in the public service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The group lamented that nearly 70 years after the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, young Nigerians, many of whom were born decades after the conflict were still being subjected to what it termed “Igbophobic tendencies.” “It is disturbing that youngsters who were born in the new millennium and are not even aware of the civil war are being punished and reminded that the war has not ended,” HURIWA said. The organisation also criticised President Tinubu for not yet making a public statement on the controversy, noting the irony given his recent decision to revert to the old national anthem, which emphasises unity, cohesion and national integration. HURIWA called on the President to immediately direct the Minister of Health and Social Welfare to ensure that the MDCN enforces the acceptance of the house officers and their immediate commencement of housemanship at UCTH. It also demanded the removal of the CMD, whom it accused of promoting tribalism in the federal civil service. The National Coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, who signed the statement, said the alleged rejection of the house officers based on ethnicity violates Section 42 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees freedom from discrimination. HURIWA insisted that denying qualified Nigerian citizens employment or statutory placements solely on the basis of ethnic origin is illegal and unconstitutional, and warned that failure to address the issue could further inflame ethnic tensions in the country. The group concluded by calling for urgent presidential intervention to end what it described as a “grave injustice” and to reaffirm the constitutional rights of all Nigerians, regardless of ethnic background.