Advocates equitable wage for all healthcare professionals
The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has decried the worsening impact of the Japa syndrome on Nigeria’s health sector, warning that the mass exodus of medical professionals has doubled workloads and degraded the quality of care nationwide.
The union said more than 60,000 nurses and 19,000 doctors, alongside other health professionals, have left the country in the past two decades, a development it blamed on the failure of employers and policymakers to reward hard work, improve wages, and create a conducive working environment that retains talent.
Speaking at the 51st Regular National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union in Abuja, MHWUN President, Kabiru Sani said the continued migration of health workers is a rational response to a system crippled by chronic underfunding.
“Those who remain are not just staying; they are carrying a collapsing structure on their already overworked shoulders,” he said.
Sani stressed that a sustainable healthcare system cannot be built “on the backs of burnt-out and undervalued heroes,” adding that Nigeria cannot retain its best and brightest health workers with rhetoric alone.
“We must demonstrate commitment through serious public investment that makes working in Nigeria a competitive and dignified choice,” he added.
He called on all stakeholders to unite in advocating equitable wages for all healthcare workers and to confront the forces threatening the nation’s health system.
Sani further lamented that rising inflation and poor economic policies have eroded workers’ salaries, forcing many to struggle between insecurity and market pressures.
“This is the direct consequence of a macroeconomic environment not supported by targeted public funding for the social sector,” he said, urging the government to adopt fiscal policies that “prioritise people over projects.”
He cautioned political actors to devote the same energy spent on political alignments to tackling the nation’s deepening crises. “It is only the living and healthy that will think of 2027 political permutations,” he said.
The MHWUN president commended the Ministers of Health and Labour and Employment for engaging with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) on long-standing demands.
He appealed for the immediate implementation of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) adjustment, similar to that granted to the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and for the payment of outstanding arrears.
Also speaking, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, accused the government of neglecting health workers and reneging on negotiated agreements.
“You are overworked, underpaid, and disrespected,” he told the workers. “You face unimaginable trauma daily, only to be met with empty promises. This is a calculated assault designed to break your will and privatise the commonwealth of our public health system.”
Ajaero urged the workers to remain united and resist attempts to pacify them with token gestures. “When a health worker is undervalued, the entire working class is devalued. Demand living wages, safe working conditions, and adequate funding for public health,” he said.
