On July 30, 2025, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), representing federal health institution staff, began a seven-day nationwide warning strike starting at 12:01 a.m. This follows a failed 15-day ultimatum that expired on July 29 after talks with the federal government collapsed. Nurses have opted for a full withdrawal of services—rejecting even skeletal operations in teaching hospitals and Federal Medical Centres across Nigeria.
Negotiations with the Federal Government, led by the Labour Ministry and attended by entities like the Ministry of Health and the Budget Office, ended without resolution due to absence of key officials, including the Health Minister and Head of the Civil Service. That vacuum stalled progress on critical issues like pay disparity, staffing shortages, and improved hazard allowances.
NANNM’s demands are extensive. They include the formal gazetting of the 2016 Nurses Scheme of Service, implementation of a 2012 court judgment on service conditions, equitable shift and specialist allowances, adequate staffing, creation of a nursing department within the Federal Ministry of Health, inclusion in key decision-making bodies, and centralized postings for graduate nurses.
Union leaders—especially National Chairman Morakinyo Rilwan and National Secretary Enya Agatha Osinachi—expressed frustration over the government’s inaction, noting that nurses have patiently endured poor conditions for over four decades and would no longer be ignored. They insist this strike was initiated by union members, not leadership.
Health sector experts warn the strike may jeopardize emergency care, maternity services, surgeries, and chronic disease treatment. With nurses comprising about 60% of Nigeria’s healthcare workforce—one that has already seen over 75,000 emigrate—this industrial action could precipitate a public health crisis if protracted.
Credit: Punch news
