Nurses to begin nationwide Wednesday

Healthcare services across Nigeria are set for major disruption on Wednesday as nurses, under the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Federal Health Institutions Sector, begin a seven-day nationwide warning strike.
The strike will impact 74 federal hospitals, as well as various state-run hospitals and primary healthcare centres, potentially crippling operations in medical centres, teaching hospitals, and specialist institutions.
The industrial action is driven by long-standing grievances over poor remuneration, acute staff shortages, unpaid allowances, and unsafe working conditions.
On July 14, 2025, the union issued a 15-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, urging swift intervention to avoid a total collapse of healthcare services. However, the association said the government has failed to initiate any form of negotiation since then.
In an interview on Monday, NANNM-FHI National Chairman, Morakinyo Rilwan, outlined key demands, including an upward review of shift and uniform allowances, the creation of a separate salary structure for nurses, increased core duty allowance, large-scale recruitment, and the establishment of a dedicated nursing department within the Federal Ministry of Health.
“The strike in question is inevitable as the Federal Government or the Federal Ministry of Health remains adamant.
“Right now, nurses are lumped together with other health workers on the same salary scale. There’s no special consideration for the unique work nurses do.
“We want a dedicated salary structure that reflects our profession and contribution. We are not just like every other health worker. We deserve our salary scale,” he said.
The national chairman lamented that despite the fact that they work round-the-clock shifts, they were not treated fairly.
“Nurses are the only professionals who work round-the-clock shifts. Night shifts are even more demanding and dangerous now due to security concerns.
“We are supposed to receive 30 per cent of our basic salary as shift allowance, as stated in a 2009 circular, but they’re only getting 6.8 per cent, the same as a gate man running shifts.
“It’s unfair. We work the longest hours with patients, and yet they give us crumbs,” he said.
The national chairman lamented that for 20 years now, nurses only get N20,000 per year for uniforms, even though they need to replace their wears constantly.
“Nurses get N20,000 per year for uniforms, a figure that has not changed in over 20 years, even though nurses wear white uniforms that get stained easily and need constant replacement.
“We wear full uniforms, and we sometimes need several per week. N20,000 can’t buy enough for a year anymore.
“Meanwhile, lab coat allowances for doctors and others were recently reviewed, but nurses were left out, even though uniform allowance is a long-standing rule for nurses and fire service officers,” he said.
He added that nurses wanted the core duty allowance raised from 1.7 per cent to four per cent, lamenting that despite nurses making up a large chunk of the health workforce, there’s no dedicated department for nursing in the ministry.
“Currently, a director reports to another director from a different department, which undermines the profession. We want a proper Department of Nursing, led by a full-fledged director, not sidelined under someone else.
“Since 2016, a scheme of service (defining ranks, roles, and duties of nurses) was approved and circulated, but it’s still not being implemented. We’re not asking for a new document. Just implement the one already approved.
“Nurses are still working in hospitals with no gloves, syringes, or gauze. They’re forced to improvise, which puts their lives and their health at risk. We save lives even with nothing. Imagine how much more we can do if we’re properly equipped.
“The government keeps saying there’s a nursing shortage, but Nigeria produces over 10,000 nurses annually, but many are underemployed, working in private hospitals for peanuts or on temporary locum contracts in government facilities. We have enough nurses. They just don’t employ or pay them well, that’s why they leave,” Rilwan said.
He added that the association demanded the reconstitution of the Nursing and Midwifery Council Board, which has been dissolved for over four years.
He emphasised that the planned strike would affect all levels of public healthcare facilities across Nigeria.
“This includes 74 federal hospitals – teaching hospitals, federal medical centres, specialist hospitals like orthopaedic, neuro-psychiatric, and eye centres, as well as all general hospitals and primary healthcare centres in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, and 774 local government areas,” he highlighted.
Also, the National Public Relations Officer, Omomo Tibiebi, said that during the warning strike, there would be no services, including emergencies.
“There will not be emergency services, the strike is total, and there will be no skeletal services. The 15-day ultimatum ends by Tuesday, July 29, 2025, by midnight, and the warning strike commences on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at 12:01 am,” Tibiebi noted.