The House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 27, urged the Nurses and Midwifery Council of Nigeria to halt the new certificate verification guidelines for nurses that are set to start from Thursday, March 1, 2024.
The House adopted a motion of urgent public importance moved by Patrick Umoh (APC, Akwa Ibom) and asked its committee on Health Institutions to look into the matter and report back to the House.
Umoh said that the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, in a memo dated February 7, introduced new guidelines for the verification of certificates of practising nurses in the country.
The lawmaker said that the National Assembly passed the Nursing and Midwifery (Registration, etc.) Act, Cap. N143, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, to regulate and control the practice of nursing and midwifery in Nigeria.
He said the council has released revised guidelines for verification of certificate(s) dated February 7, 2024, which will take effect on March 1, 2024.
He said the guidelines require that applicants for verification must have at least two years of post qualification experience from the date of issuance of permanent practice licence; get a letter of good standing from the Chief Executive Officer of the applicant’s place of work and the last training institution attended, and that processing of application will take at least six months.
He said also that health professionals led by the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives have expressed worries, protests and strong resistance to the implementation of the revised guidelines;
He said: “Verification of certificates is to confirm and authenticate an already existing certificate issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, therefore the requirement for two years post-qualification experience before verification of certificate is unreasonable, arbitrary and unfair, as it may, among other things, restrict the freedom of nurses seeking education or additional skills and training in foreign universities.
“The National Assembly is the body empowered by the Constitution to make laws for the country, and the requirement of two years post-qualification experience by the Nursing and Midwifery Council is to legislate through the back door, and therefore a usurpation of the powers of the National Assembly.
“The requirement that applicants for verification must obtain a letter of good standing from the Chief Executive Officer of the applicant’s place of work is capable of creating forced labour and modern slavery as the applicant will be forced to be subject to the whims and caprices of applicant’s employer.”
