Health workers begin nationwide strike over 12-year salary delay

The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has declared an indefinite nationwide strike over the Federal Government’s 12-year delay in implementing the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

The JOHESU National Chairman, Kabiru Minjibir, announced this while addressing newsmen at the end of the union’s National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Friday, November 14, 2025.

Minjibir said the decision to embark on an indefinite strike followed a unanimous resolution, directing all affiliate unions in federal health institutions to withdraw services from Friday midnight.

Minjibir stated that several engagements with the government since 2014 yielded no meaningful progress, despite assurances, memoranda, and conciliation meetings aimed at resolving the long-standing salary dispute.

He said the federal government’s failure to act on the High-Level Body report on CONHESS, submitted since 2022, created frustration among health workers who had consistently embraced dialogue and demonstrated restraint.

The chairman said: “This 12-year delay is unacceptable. Health workers have shown maturity and patriotism, but government inaction has made this strike inevitable.

“Our members will remain on strike until the adjusted CONHESS structure is fully implemented.

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‘We cannot continue working under a violated agreement that disadvantages our workforce.”

Minjibir said the state councils of JOHESU had been directed to issue a 15-day strike notice to their respective governments in line with labour laws, assuring full national support whenever state actions commence.

He apologised to Nigerians for the disruption, saying the unions were compelled to act due to government delays, while warning against any form of victimisation of members participating in the strike.

He said JOHESU remained open to immediate dialogue with government, stressing that swift implementation of the salary structure could lead to a suspension of the industrial action without further escalation.

Minjibir urged the federal government to prioritise workers’ welfare, noting that timely resolution of disputes in the health sector was critical to service delivery and national stability.

The Star