Public healthcare delivery across Nigeria has reached a near-total standstill as the nationwide strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) enters its third month. The industrial action, which began in mid-November 2025, has left federal teaching hospitals and specialist centers nationwide operating at a fraction of their capacity, with critical support services virtually non-existent.
The strike involves a broad spectrum of non-physician health workers, including laboratory scientists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and administrative staff. At major institutions such as the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), pharmacies and diagnostic laboratories remain locked. While some doctors and nurses continue to provide skeletal services in emergency wards, the absence of support staff has made comprehensive patient care nearly impossible.
Central to the dispute is a decade-long demand for the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS). JOHESU leaders argue that while medical doctors received salary reviews years ago, other health professionals have been excluded from similar welfare updates since 2014. “We have been addressing this issue for 12 years,” stated one union representative, accusing the Federal Ministry of Health of “professional protectionism” and failing to honor previous agreements.
The crisis was further compounded in January 2026 when the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) resumed its own indefinite strike, dubbed “TICS 2.0,” citing the government’s failure to implement a Memorandum of Understanding regarding unpaid arrears and promotion bottlenecks. Although the government has attempted to enforce a “No Work, No Pay” policy and secured an interim court order against the doctors’ strike, the unions have remained defiant, describing the measures as “intimidation.”
The human cost of the stalemate is mounting. Thousands of patients have been discharged prematurely or turned away from public facilities, forcing those who can afford it into the more expensive private sector, while the indigent are left without options. In some regions, hospital managements report monthly revenue losses exceeding ₦500 million, totaling billions in lost income since the strike began.
For the Nigerian diaspora, the prolonged collapse of the public health sector remains a point of deep concern, as family members back home face a “ghost town” environment in what should be the nation’s premier medical institutions. With negotiations currently stalled, civil society groups are calling for direct intervention from the Presidency to avert a total collapse of the national healthcare system.
