The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) have declared an indefinite nationwide strike, citing the Federal Government’s failure to address long-standing demands, particularly the implementation of the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
JOHESU, which comprises four unions; Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), said it was left with no choice but to take industrial action.
Addressing newsmen after an expanded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the unions on Friday in Abuja, the National Chairman, Comrade Kabiru Minjibir said the unions resolved to embark on strike following years of unmet demands despite several correspondences and interventions, including a 2023 suspension of strike after the involvement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He noted that a 7-day warning strike in October 2024 also resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding, but with no tangible progress thereafter. At the centre of the dispute was the non-implementation of the High-Level Body Committee’s report on the adjusted CONHESS, submitted to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages in 2022.
Minjibri said the adjustment, implemented for the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) since 2014, has been denied to other health workers in violation of a 2009 collective bargaining agreement.
The union leader accused successive administrations of neglecting the issue and said recent steps by the government appeared “too little, too late” after nearly 12 years of delay.
He said: “Unfortunately, there has been no positive response from the Federal Government on some of these issues despite assurances during subsequent meetings with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“The crux of the matter in the present circumstance is the long delay in the implementation of the High-Level Body (HLB) Committee’s report on the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) since the submission to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages in 2022.
“This demand remains the flagship of the demand of JOHESU since January 2, 2014, when it was implemented for the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) in violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that established the two salary structures in the health sector in 2009.
“Nothing has been done by successive administrations to redress this infraction. Despite the well-advertised assurances of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when a two-man delegation of JOHESU visited him on Monday, June 5, 2023, to advance the FG’s resolve to get JOHESU to suspend its strike, which commenced in the dying days of Buhari’s administration in late May 2023, this demand remains unattended to.
“There have been excuses from relevant MDAs that the delay was due to the absence of the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS), which had not been reconstituted by the President.
“Since the re-constitution of the PCS, the matter was not given priority attention until probably the last 48 hours when the Federal Government appears to have made practical moves to ameliorate the unpalatable delays which have pervaded for almost twelve years now, in what is clearly one of the longest and most prolonged demands in labour history in Nigeria.”
Following the unanimous resolution, JOHESU directed its affiliate unions in federal health institutions to commence an indefinite strike from midnight. State councils, including the FCT, were asked to issue a 15-day notice to their respective governments in line with labour laws.
“Consequently, arising from the unanimous resolution adopted during the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) Expanded National Executive Council hybrid meeting held today, 14th November, 2025, and in compliance with the Provisions of Section 41 of the Trade Disputes Act Cap. T8 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, members of JOHESU affiliate Unions from MHWUN, NUAHP, SSAUTHRIAI, and NASU, with effect from midnight today, 14th November, 2025 in the Federal Health sector shall embark on indefinite strike action until this flagship demand of the implementation of the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) is met.
“The 36 states and the FCT may immediately serve their governments a 15-day notice in line with relevant provisions of the labour laws. We assure our States that the National Secretariat will definitely support maximally in the event of strike action.”
While expressing empathy for Nigerians who may be affected, the unions insisted the action was unavoidable due to government inaction. They stressed their commitment to social dialogue but said their patience and patriotism had been taken for granted.
JOHESU warned against any form of victimisation of members during the strike and said communication channels would remain open throughout the industrial action.
“JOHESU urges members to comply with this directive accordingly. JOHESU will not accept victimisation of its members by the Government or any employer in the public health institutions across the country on account of this strike action, which is a dispute of right.”
