Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Monday unveiled a 19-point list of demands it says are “minimum expectations” to avert a full-scale, indefinite nationwide strike set to begin this coming Saturday.
At a media briefing in Abuja, NARD President Muhammad Suleiman said the association had demonstrated patience but concluded that “the Federal Government has failed to demonstrate the political will necessary to address the legitimate concerns of Nigerian resident doctors.”
Huge arrears, long-standing neglect
NARD revealed that the government currently owes doctors — and other health-care professionals including administrative staff — an estimated ₦38 billion in accumulated allowances, some dating back over a decade.
“We have allowances of over two years, some for 18 months, seven months, four months and even 10 years,” Suleiman stated.
He added that “there has been a failure to review the basic salary of doctors in this country for 16 years.”
Among the principal demands are:
• Immediate payment of arrears from the 25–35 % review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and the 2024 accoutrement allowance.
• Reinstatement of five resident doctors terminated without cause from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, with back pay.
• Implementation of a “humane working-hours policy” aligned with international best practices, to protect doctors’ wellness and patient safety.
• Granting Chief Executives of hospitals autonomy to employ doctor replacements when staff leave (“one-for-one replacement policy”), to reduce excessive workload and burnout.
• Upgrading infrastructure and medical equipment across healthcare facilities, inclusion of house officers in civil service schemes, and correction of entry-level doctor placements.
• The uniform implementation of CONMESS circulars across federal, state, and private institutions, cessation of casualisation of doctors, and payment of accrued promotion arrears.
Strike warning and appeal to the president
If the demands are not met, NARD has declared that the strike will begin 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, and will be “total, comprehensive and indefinite” in all federal and state tertiary health institutions.
Suleiman appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu to intervene personally, calling him “the father of the nation” and urging him to step in before the collapse of service delivery.
NARD previously suspended a five-day warning strike in September following assurances from the government, and extended a 30-day ultimatum — but say no meaningful action followed.
Public hospitals across Nigeria already face chronic staff shortages, deteriorating equipment, and multiple unpaid allowances, meaning a full strike by resident doctors could severely disrupt emergency and specialist services.
In recent years, NARD and other health-worker unions have repeatedly embarked on industrial action over welfare, pay and working-conditions issues.
Their threat comes amid warnings of a sharp drop in number of resident doctors in the health system — the association says there are only around 11,000 resident doctors nationally, versus many more a decade ago.
