Nigeria’s already strained health system has been hit with yet another shutdown, as the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA), yesterday launched an indefinite nationwide strike.
According to the unions, the action follows the federal government’s persistent failure to implement the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure, (CONHESS), and resolve long-standing welfare concerns.
The decision, announced in a statement signed by JOHESU national chairman Kabiru Minjibri, comes barely two weeks after the unions issued a 15-day ultimatum to the government demanding immediate action on the long-delayed salary adjustment and other unresolved welfare issues.
The latest strike follows earlier suspensions in June 2023 and October 2024, both halted after presidential intervention and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
JOHESU is a coalition of major health sector unions, including MHWUN, NUAHP, SSAUTHRIAN, and NASU. The walkout is unfolding at a time when a nationwide strike by resident doctors has already crippled services in secondary and tertiary hospitals across the country.
At the heart of the dispute is the delayed implementation of the High-Level Body Committee’s 2022 report on CONHESS, which JOHESU says has been central to its advocacy since 2014. The unions argue that while doctors received a similar adjustment under CONMESS in 2009, non-physician health workers have been left behind in violation of the 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement. They also accuse several Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of obstructing progress through slow handling of the matter and inconsistent prioritisation by the Presidential Committee on Salaries.
The indefinite strike was unanimously approved at JOHESU’s Expanded National Executive Council meeting on 14 November 2025, in line with Section 41 of the Trade Disputes Act. The unions have instructed all state chapters to issue 15-day strike notices to their respective governments and pledged full national support for members during the action.
With resident doctors already off the job, health services in teaching hospitals, specialist centres, and state facilities are expected to deteriorate further. “While we empathise with Nigerians who rely on health services, this situation is beyond our immediate control because of government inaction”, the statement said, warning members to fully comply with the strike order and urging authorities to avoid intimidation or victimisation.
