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Members of JOHESU include 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.
The industrial action was announced on Friday in a statement signed by Kabiru Ado Minjibir, national chairman of JOHESU.
The unions cited the federal government’s persistent failure to implement the adjusted consolidated health salary structure (CONHESS) and resolve longstanding welfare and systemic issues affecting health workers as the reason for the strike.
JOHESU added that while the delay in implementing the adjusted CONHESS was the principal trigger, several other unresolved issues informed the decision.
“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,” the statement reads.
“Nothing has been done by successive administrations to redress this infraction. Despite the well-advertised assurances of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, when a two-man delegation of JOHESU visited him on June 5, 2023, to advance the FG’s resolve to get JOHESU to suspend its strike, this demand remains unattended to.”
JOHESU added that delays were initially blamed on the absence of the presidential committee on salaries, which had not been reconstituted.
The unions said even after its reconstitution, the matter was not given priority attention until the last 48 hours, when the government appeared to take practical steps to address the prolonged delay.
The unions recalled that they had earlier suspended strike actions in June 2023 and October 2024 following presidential intervention and the signing of a memorandum of understanding, but the government failed to implement the agreed-upon resolutions.
“Unfortunately, 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,” the statement reads.
“There is no doubt that we have exhibited maturity, selflessness, and patriotism even in the face of extreme provocations and long delays by the government, and we think that our maturity and patriotism have been taken for granted.”
The unions called on their members nationwide to comply strictly with the strike directive and warned the government against intimidation or sanctions.
The strike coincides with the ongoing industrial action by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) over unpaid hazard allowance arrears, poor working conditions, and failure to implement agreed welfare reforms.
