Health Workers’ Strike Cripples Public Hospitals, Deepens Healthcare Crisis in Nigeria

Nigeria’s ongoing health workers’ strike has entered its third month, grounding activities in government-owned hospitals and worsening the country’s already fragile healthcare system.

The industrial action by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has disrupted critical services such as pharmacies, laboratories, and administrative departments, leaving thousands of patients stranded nationwide.

Across major public hospitals in Nigeria, facilities once bustling with activity now operate at skeletal levels or resemble ghost towns. At federal teaching hospitals in Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Lagos, and Edo states, services have been drastically reduced, forcing patients to turn to private hospitals or seek care outside their states. The strike has also led to postponed surgeries, interrupted medical training, and mounting financial losses, with some hospitals reportedly losing hundreds of millions of naira monthly in internally generated revenuem9o9

While state-owned hospitals in Ekiti and Benue have largely remained operational, the influx of patients from federal institutions has significantly increased workloads for available staff. In contrast, separate strikes by resident doctors, nurses, and midwives in some state facilities have further strained healthcare delivery, particularly in Benue State.

Union leaders insist the strike is not intended to punish patients but to press the Federal Government to implement long-standing agreements, including the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS). They argue that unresolved welfare issues have persisted for over a decade.

As negotiations stall, the prolonged strike highlights the economic and human cost of labour disputes in Nigeria’s health sector, raising urgent questions about funding priorities, workforce welfare, and the sustainability of public healthcare delivery.