Health sector strike looms as FG yet to act on nurses’, doctors’ demands three days to deadline

Nigeria’s health sector faces the threat of nationwide strikes with significant disruptions to healthcare delivery, as health professionals decry federal government’s  inaction on agreed commitments, with three days before deadline.

The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has said it has yet to receive any response from the federal government regarding its demands, weeks after suspending a warning strike.

The nurses began a seven-day strike on 29 July, which significantly crippled healthcare services in public hospitals. The industrial action was suspended after the federal government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the union in August 1, pledging to implement the nurses’ demands within 28 days.

However, the leadership of the Association confirmed to BusinessDay on Monday that no action has been taken since  August 1 when the government agreed to implement the demands, leaving only three days before the deadline.

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“No response since the MoU was signed. That shows the type of government we have. We are watching. After the expiration of the deadline, we will review. We believe Nigerians will not blame us,” Morakinyo-Olajide Rilwan, national chairman of NANNM, told BusinessDay.

On 15 August, the federal government inaugurated a Committee on Collective Bargaining for the Health Sector to negotiate with unions. However, Rilwan said the committee has not convened any meeting since its establishment.

Additionally, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has already issued a 21-day ultimatum, threatening total and indefinite industrial action unless the government addresses its welfare concerns. If both unions proceed, Nigeria’s fragile health system could face its most disruption  in years.

A simultaneous strike by doctors and nurses would paralyse healthcare delivery nationwide, exacerbating the plight of patients already burdened by soaring medical costs and overstretched facilities.

The warning strike embarked by nurses in July is the first industrial action in more than four decades. It severely disrupted services in public hospitals, with patients discharged as facilities were left without nursing staff.

At the core of the nurses’ demands are the gazetting of the Nurses’ Scheme of Service, approved by the National Council on Establishment in 2016 but never implemented; enforcement of a National Industrial Court judgment delivered in January 2012; upward review of professional allowances; employment of additional nursing personnel; and adequate funding for health facility equipment.

Other demands include the creation of a Department of Nursing within the Federal Ministry of Health, inclusion of nurses in health policy leadership, fair representation on boards of federal health institutions, centralisation of internship postings for graduate nurses, and consultancy status for nurses and midwives.

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The demands of the NMA include the resolution of discrepancies between the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), as well as the full implementation of the 2001 Collective Bargaining Agreement on professional allowances.

The association also called for the payment of clinical duty and accoutrement allowances, alongside an upward review of the 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund to better support the development of future medical professionals.