When nurses Jude Nwaobi and Florence Anozie wed in December, they didn’t celebrate love, they staged a protest against quackery in nursing.

Immediately after a minister joined them as man and wife on December 12, the bride and groom stormed out of the church and hoisted a banner declaring, “It is your right to know. Always ask: Are you a registered nurse? Life has no duplicate.”

Guests weren’t even aware, the bride Florence told Daily Trust. “As we were going to the reception, they were wondering what we were doing there. Only the nurses among them were aware.”

But they were supportive eventually, joining the couple’s campaign against quackery.

The protest on their wedding day was Jude’s idea, but his bride stood by him.

“Doing it on our wedding day, that would show how serious [we are] about it,” she said. “Of course, I am a nurse, and it is the same thing we go through.”

Nwaobi graduated in nursing science from University of Calabar, and studied accident-and-emergency nursing at Lagos University Teaching Hospital. He is also a fellow of the West African college of Nursing.

His bride Florence Anozie is also a registered accident and emergency nurse.

Their unprecedented wedding statement has given rise to the hashtag movement #saynotoquacks.

“The operation of these quacks in nursing profession is one key reason the nation’s health care is tottering on the borders of incredibility and total lack of confidence,” the couple said in a statement.

“This is fuelling the rising trend of unemployment, negative stereotyping and consequent poor remuneration amongst Nigerian nurses.”

Nwaobi told Daily Trust using his wedding day was a “unique platform” to stage the protest against quacks in nursing.

“It looks like nobody is saying anything about it. The Nigerian police, our regulatory bodies—Midwifery Council has a unit to look into quackery but it looks like it is not active, the [National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives] is silent on this, and the quacks are taking over our jobs,” said Nwaobi.

“They are denting our image, because anybody in white is a nurse. If a quack does anything, it is attributed to [us] the nurses, and there is no platform for us to air our views.”


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