• Only two of nineteen demands receiving attention, says NARD
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State branch, has announced its support for the ongoing nationwide strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) as action entered its sixth day on Thursday.
The association blamed the Federal Government for neglecting doctors’ welfare, delaying arrears, and allowing leadership to weaken healthcare system.
Speaking on Thursday during a press briefing in Lagos, NMA Lagos Chairman, Dr Babajide Saheed, said doctors could no longer remain silent.
He said, “The government’s refusal to meet NARD’s nineteen-point demands and the failure of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare to engage with NARD leadership within the stipulated period is a clear act of negligence.”
Saheed urged the Federal Government to urgently meet all outstanding demands to prevent a total collapse of tertiary health services.
“We therefore call on the Federal Government to immediately meet all the demands of NARD to avert a total collapse of tertiary health care and restore public confidence in our health institutions,” he said.
He also warned against any attempt to threaten or punish striking doctors, describing their action as “lawful and necessary.”
Saheed criticised the Federal Government for failing to reconstitute Boards of Management in federal tertiary hospitals dissolved for more than two years.
He said the absence of the boards had created “a dangerous vacuum of oversight, allowing unchecked excesses and abuse of power.”
The association also called for a single, non-renewable five-year tenure for hospital Chief Executives to promote fairness and accountability.
“A single, non-renewable five-year tenure will promote accountability, fairness, innovation, and transparency in hospital governance,” Saheed said.
Strike enters sixth day across 91 hospitals
Thursday marks day six of the nationwide indefinite strike declared by NARD on November 1, 2025, after its ultimatum to the Federal Government expired.
The strike has disrupted services in 91 hospitals, including teaching hospitals, federal medical centres, and specialist institutions across the country.
NARD had on September 28, 2025, given the government 30 days to meet welfare demands covering salaries, promotions, and recruitment.
NARD President, Dr Mohammad Suleiman, said, “Our demands are neither new nor unreasonable; they represent the minimum requirements for a sustainable healthcare system.”
He added that although the Health Ministry claimed to have released ₦30 billion for arrears, “doctors received only a small fraction of the total sum.”
Suleiman also lamented the mass exodus of doctors, saying the number had dropped from 15,000–16,000 to about 9,000–10,000 nationwide.
FG promises partial payment
On November 3, 2025, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Iziaq Salako, appealed to doctors to suspend the strike and resume duty.
He said about 60% of resident doctors are already receiving payment alerts, and additional ₦11.9 billion has been processed for payment this week.
But NARD insisted that the strike would continue until full payments and structural reforms were verified.
Suleiman said, “Industrial peace cannot be achieved through press statements but through justice, sincerity, and respect for agreements.”
In an update shared with The Guardian, Suleiman said, “the amounts being quoted are very wrong. The strike continues as only two out of the nineteen demands are receiving serious attention. No progress. Out of ninety-one centres, all are on total strike. The nineteen-point demands are yet to be resolved.”
