The Joint Health Sector Union and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations have announced an indefinite nationwide strike beginning Saturday, November 15, 2025.
The industrial action is set to affect federal teaching hospitals, specialist centres, and many state-owned health facilities.
The unions cited the Federal Government’s failure to implement the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure and address other longstanding welfare issues as the primary reasons for the strike.
The decision was communicated in a statement signed by JOHESU National Chairman, Comrade Kabiru Ado Minjibir, and made available to PUNCH on Friday.
“The crux of the matter is the long delay in the implementation of the High-Level Body Committee’s report on the adjusted CONHESS since its submission to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages in 2022,” the statement read.
JOHESU stressed that the government had ignored repeated assurances, including commitments made by President Bola Tinubu during a meeting with the unions in June 2023.
“Nothing has been done by successive administrations to redress this infraction. Despite assurances from the president when a JOHESU delegation visited him on June 5, 2023, this demand remains unattended to,” the union said.
The unions noted that while delays were initially blamed on the absence of the Presidential Committee on Salaries, even after its reconstitution, the issue did not receive urgent attention.
Only in the last 48 hours did the government reportedly take some steps, which JOHESU described as insufficient.
“There is no doubt that we have exhibited maturity, selflessness, and patriotism even in the face of extreme provocations and long delays by the government. Our patience has been taken for granted,” the statement added.
JOHESU called on its members nationwide to comply fully with the strike directive and warned against any form of intimidation or sanctions by the government.
“JOHESU will not accept victimisation of its members by the government or any employer in public health institutions across the country on account of this strike action, which is a dispute of right,” the union said.
The strike coincides with the ongoing indefinite strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors over unpaid allowances, poor working conditions, and welfare issues, raising concerns of a major disruption to healthcare services nationwide.
