The public health system is at breaking point. For nearly a month, resident doctors under the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) were on a total, comprehensive, and indefinite strike. Their 19-point demands address long-standing issues: tackling the brain drain, upgrading infrastructure and medical equipment, and securing fair welfare and allowances.
From the middle of November, the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), representing allied health professionals, medical and health workers, and non-academic staff, have joined the struggle with their own indefinite strike.
Together, these actions have paralysed 91 public hospitals nationwide, including federal teaching hospitals, specialist institutions, and medical centres. Patients are being denied care, surgeries are suspended and families endure trauma – all because of government failure to fund public health services adequately.
The facts are damning. Nigeria has lost nearly 19,000 doctors to the brain drain between 2005 and 2024 (JAPA). Over 4,000 left in 2024 alone for Saudi Arabia, the UK, the US and Canada. Today, the doctor-to-patient ratio stands around 1:4,000, far from the World Health Organisation’s standard of 1:600. Over 60% of Nigerian doctors now practice abroad, while those who remain are often worked to death. Meanwhile, the elite spend $2 billion annually on medical tourism, while ordinary Nigerians cannot afford basic treatment and are left to quacks and spiritualists.
JOHESU’s demand for the upward adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Scale (CONHESS) – stagnant since 2014, is just as urgent as NARD’s demand for a 200% increase in CONMESS and implementation of allowances promised since 2022. Both struggles expose the injustice of a system that rewards some cadres while neglecting others, amidst the broader collapse of public healthcare delivery.
The government’s response has been insincere. Ministers boast of “progress” that amounts to unfulfilled promises, committee meetings, and anticipated payments. NARD has rightly exposed this cycle of deception.
The truth is clear: none of the core demands of the health workers have been met. The common people continue to die from preventable diseases, while the government allocates barely 4–6% of the national budget to health, far below the 15% Abuja Declaration pledge. Life expectancy in Nigeria is just 56 years, compared to the global average of 74. This is the cost of misplaced priorities.
Socialist Labour stands shoulder to shoulder with NARD and JOHESU. Their fight is our fight. We demand:
- Immediate payment of all outstanding salaries and allowances.
- Upward adjustment of CONHESS and full implementation of CONMESS.
- Urgent investment in infrastructure, equipment, and medical education.
- Radical increase in health budget allocations to at least meet the Abuja Declaration pledge.
- Free, universal healthcare for all.
The labour movement must unite behind these strikes. Victory for the doctors and health workers would be a victory for all of us. It will mark the beginning of a new health system that values life over profit, dignity over exploitation, and solidarity over neglect.
We call on all workers, unions, and communities to support NARD and JOHESU. Their struggle is the struggle of the common people. Together, we can force the government to prioritise health, end needless deaths, and build a system that serves humanity.
As we go to press, the doctors of NARD are suspending their strike for a month. We hope the doctors have won a significant victory. But more could have been achieved with a united health workers strike with for solidarity from the NLC & TUC.
Download our full Socialist Bulletin for November 2025 with the link below:https://socialistlabour.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SL-bulletin.-DECEMBER-2025.pdf
