FG’s Delay on Salary Adjustment Triggers Nationwide Strike by Health Workers

 

Health services across the country face fresh disruption as the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations yesterday declared an indefinite nationwide strike, effective November 15, 2025, over the federal government’s failure to implement the long-awaited adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

In a statement signed by Kabiru Ado Minjibir, JOHESU National Chairman, the unions accused the federal government of “persistent negligence” and “serial breach” of agreements reached since 2022.

JOHESU comprises major health unions, including the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals and Research Institutes, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.

‘Government took our patience for granted’

The unions said the trigger for the latest industrial action was the government’s failure to implement the report of the High-Level Body (HLB) on the adjusted CONHESS structure, submitted to the Presidential Committee on Salaries since 2022.

They recalled that despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s pledge during a JOHESU visit on June 5, 2023—when the unions suspended a previous strike—the issue has remained unattended to.

The statement added that the government had repeatedly hidden under the non-reconstitution of the Presidential Committee on Salaries to justify the delay. Even after the committee was reconstituted, JOHESU said the matter was not prioritised until “the last 48 hours”.

Previous agreements unmet

JOHESU noted that strikes earlier suspended in June 2023 and October 2024, following presidential intervention and the signing of Memoranda of Understanding, were followed by government inaction.

“Despite our maturity, restraint, and patriotism in the face of long delays and provocations, government has failed to honour its commitments,” the statement read. “Our goodwill has been taken for granted.”

Workers directed to down tools nationwide

The unions ordered all members across federal, state, and local government health institutions to comply strictly with the strike directive. They also warned the government against harassment or punitive measures.

The action comes amid the ongoing strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) over unpaid hazard allowances, poor working conditions, and delayed welfare reforms—deepening the crisis in the nation’s health sector.