Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations have declared an indefinite nationwide strike starting November 15, 2025.
Gatekeepers News reports that JOHESU stated the action became unavoidable due to the federal government’s persistent neglect.
The announcement was issued on Friday in a statement signed by Kabiru Ado Minjibir, JOHESU’s national chairman.
The unions said that the government’s prolonged refusal to implement the revised Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), along with numerous unresolved welfare and systemic problems affecting health workers, forced them into the strike.
They noted that although the delay in implementing the updated CONHESS was the immediate cause, the overall decision stemmed from a series of lingering disputes.
The statement reads, “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.”
It added that successive governments failed to address the issue, despite repeated commitments. JOHESU referenced its June 5, 2023 meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying that despite the well-advertised assurances given at the time, the situation remains unresolved.
The unions noted that officials initially blamed the holdup on the nonexistence of the presidential committee on salaries, which had not yet been reconstituted.
They added that even after the committee was restored, the matter received little attention until the past two days, when the government appeared to begin taking concrete steps to address the backlog.
They also pointed out that earlier strikes were suspended in June 2023 and October 2024 following presidential mediation and the signing of a memorandum of understanding, but authorities still failed to implement the agreed decisions.
The unions lamented that 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, adding that their patience has been taken for granted.
They urged their members nationwide to fully observe the strike order and cautioned the government against any attempt at coercion or punitive measures.
