Nigeria’s public health sector is facing an unprecedented paralysis as the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) commenced an indefinite nationwide strike effective Saturday, November 15, 2025. The industrial action, which involves over 85% of the nation’s health workers, is set to cripple federal hospitals, including essential diagnostic and pharmaceutical services.
JOHESU, which represents professional groups like nurses, pharmacists, and medical laboratory scientists, cited the Federal Government’s persistent failure to implement the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) as the primary trigger. This flagship demand, which aims to resolve long-standing salary disparities compared to doctors, has remained unresolved for over a decade.
According to a statement from JOHESU National Chairman, Comrade Kabiru Ado Minjibir, the decision follows years of government inaction and repeated breaches of agreements. The unions noted that their High-Level Body Committee report on CONHESS adjustment was submitted in 2022, yet subsequent administrations, including the current one led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have failed to issue the necessary implementation circular despite prior presidential assurances. JOHESU previously suspended strikes in June 2023 and October 2024 following Memoranda of Understanding that were ultimately unhonored.
Crisis Deepens with NARD Overlap
The situation is compounded by the fact that the JOHESU shutdown is running concurrently with an ongoing indefinite strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). NARD’s protest is focused on separate but related welfare issues, including unpaid hazard allowance arrears and poor working conditions.
With both resident doctors and allied health professionals off duty, public tertiary hospitals—the backbone of Nigeria’s medical system—are unable to sustain critical operations. Past strikes by these major unions have resulted in significant disruptions to accident and emergency services, surgical procedures, and in-patient care, often forcing vulnerable citizens to rely on expensive private facilities.
JOHESU has directed its state councils to issue 15-day notices, signaling that the industrial action may soon extend beyond federal institutions to state-owned hospitals, further deepening the nation’s healthcare crisis until the government addresses the demands.
