By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations have declared an indefinite nationwide strike effective Saturday, November 15.
The unions said the strike was based on the Federal Government’s persistent failure to implement the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) and resolve longstanding welfare and systemic issues affecting health workers.
The announcement was contained in a statement signed by the National Chairman of JOHESU, Kabiru Ado Minjibir, on Friday, November 14.
The unions said the unanimous resolution was reached during the JOHESU Expanded National Executive Council hybrid meeting on November 14 where members of JOHESU-affiliate unions across the Federal Health Service agreed to embark on indefinite strike action until the flagship demand for the implementation of the adjusted CONHESS is met.
The strike comes amid an indefinite strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) over unpaid hazard allowance arrears, poor working conditions, and failure to implement agreed welfare reforms.
The strikes by both doctors and other health professionals would cripple services in federal teaching hospitals, specialist centres, and many state-owned hospitals.
The health workers unions under JOHESU include the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.
According to JOHESU, while the delay in implementing the adjusted CONHESS was the principal trigger, it noted that several other unresolved issues informed the decision to shut down services.
The statement read: “The crux of the matter in the present circumstance is the long delay in the implementation of the High-Level Body (HLB) Committee’s report on the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure since its submission to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages in 2022.”
The unions also accused successive administrations of failing to address the longstanding salary disparity among health workers.
It added: “Nothing has been done by successive administrations to redress this infraction. Despite the well-advertised assurances of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu when a two-man delegation of JOHESU visited him on June 5, 2023, to advance the FG’s resolve to get JOHESU to suspend its strike, this demand remains unattended to.”
According to the unions, delays were initially blamed on the absence of the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS), which had not been reconstituted.
The unions said even after its reconstitution, the matter was not given priority until the last 48 hours, when the government appeared to take practical steps to address the prolonged delay, which JOHESU described as “one of the longest and most protracted demands in Nigeria’s labour history.”
JOHESU recalled that the unions had earlier suspended strike actions in June 2023 and October 2024 following presidential intervention and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, but the government failed to implement the resolutions.
The statement noted, “Unfortunately, there has been no positive response from the Federal Government on some of these issues despite assurances during subsequent meetings with relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.”
