The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr Michael Achimugu, has shared a harrowing account of how alleged night-shift negligence at a hospital nearly cost him his child’s life.
In a post on X, Achimugu recounted rushing his young daughter to a hospital around 2am for emergency treatment, only to be stalled by a cashier who was asleep while urgent payments were needed for laboratory tests and medication.
According to him, repeated efforts to wake the cashier failed. She briefly stirred, muttered a few words, and fell back asleep, forcing him to wait for about 10 minutes at a critical moment when every second mattered.
The situation changed only when a doctor passing by intervened, ordering the cashier to attend to him. By then, emergency care had already begun for the child. Achimugu warned that the delay could have been fatal if not for the doctor’s timely action.
His daughter was later stabilised and is currently under medical observation.
Reacting to the incident, Achimugu described it as a symptom of a wider culture of negligence among night-shift workers in Nigeria, particularly in hospitals, hotels and other service-oriented institutions.
While acknowledging that night duty can be demanding, he stressed that workers are expected to remain alert and professional throughout their shifts, noting that emergencies are more likely to occur at night when people are most vulnerable.
Drawing comparisons with international best practices, Achimugu said night-shift staff in many countries are required to remain visibly active to ensure prompt service delivery. He criticised what he called the tendency to excuse unprofessional behaviour in the name of empathy, insisting that shift work comes with clear and non-negotiable responsibilities.
He also revealed that the NCAA is in the final stages of deploying automated monitoring systems to track officers on night duty in real time. The move, he said, is aimed at preventing cases where personnel claim to be on duty while absent from their posts, especially during night hours.
Achimugu called for stricter standards and stronger accountability for night-shift workers, warning that professionalism and efficiency must never be compromised, regardless of the hour.
