The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations have declared an indefinite nationwide strike beginning Saturday, November 15, 2025, plunging Nigeria’s already strained health sector into deeper crisis.
The unions announced the industrial action in a statement signed by JOHESU National Chairman, Comrade Kabiru Ado Minjibir, on Friday, citing the Federal Government’s prolonged failure to implement the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) and address long-standing welfare concerns affecting health workers.
The development comes amid an ongoing indefinite strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), who are protesting unpaid hazard allowances, poor working conditions, and unfulfilled welfare agreements. With both doctors and other health professionals downing tools, federal teaching hospitals, specialist centres, and many state-owned facilities are expected to experience severe service disruptions.
JOHESU comprises several major unions, including 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 the unions, the chief trigger for the strike is the government’s delay in implementing the High-Level Body Committee report on the adjusted CONHESS—submitted since 2022 to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages but left unattended.
The statement accused successive administrations of failing to address salary disparities in the health sector, despite repeated assurances. It also recalled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2023 promise to fast-track the process following a JOHESU delegation visit—an assurance that reportedly yielded no results.
JOHESU noted that initial delays were blamed on the absence of a reconstituted Presidential Committee on Salaries. Even after the committee was eventually reinstated, the unions say the matter only gained attention within the last 48 hours, despite being one of the “longest and most protracted demands in Nigeria’s labour history.”
At an Expanded National Executive Council hybrid meeting held on November 14, 2025, JOHESU leaders unanimously approved the indefinite strike, directing members across all federal health institutions to withdraw their services until the government implements the adjusted salary structure.
The unions added that state chapters and the FCT may begin issuing 15-day strike notices to their respective governments as required by labour law.
JOHESU recalled that previous strikes were suspended in June 2023 and October 2024 after presidential interventions and signed agreements—agreements the unions say the government has failed to honour.
Despite years of dialogue and restraint, JOHESU said it has been forced into action, accusing authorities of taking the unions’ patience and patriotism for granted.
The statement also warned against any form of intimidation or punitive measures against striking workers, emphasising that the action is a legitimate dispute of right.
Members nationwide have been instructed to comply fully with the strike directive as JOHESU keeps communication lines open throughout the industrial action.
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