Follow Us on Google
By Doris Obinna
A major disruption looms in Nigeria’s healthcare sector as the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has declared an indefinite nationwide strike effective Saturday, November 1, 2025.
The association described the move as a “total, comprehensive, and indefinite strike,” citing the federal government’s alleged failure to address its long-standing demands. The decision followed an Extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held by the association over the weekend.
Announcing the development on Monday, President, NARD, Dr. Mohammed Suleiman, said members had been instructed to conduct ward rounds and formally hand over their patients to consultants before the commencement of the industrial action.
Dr. Suleiman accused the government of deliberately undermining medical professionals by “demarketing their certificates” to discourage them from seeking opportunities abroad.
Other News
He also cautioned President Bola Tinubu to be wary of certain politicians around him, whom he claimed were misleading him and did not have the nation’s best interests at heart.
The association outlined 19 key demands, including the immediate commencement of specialist allowance payments to all doctors, which it said was necessary to acknowledge their critical role in delivering specialized medical care.
Other demands include the correction of all entry-level placements of doctors to the appropriate salary grades and the decentralisation and streamlining of promotion and upgrading processes to enhance efficiency in training and service delivery.
Dr. Suleiman said the strike would continue until the federal government meets the association’s demands, expressing frustration that previous negotiations and assurances had failed to yield tangible results.
With the strike set to begin on November 1, hospitals across the country are expected to experience significant disruptions in medical services, as resident doctors constitute the majority of the nation’s healthcare workforce.
