By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
RESPONSIBILITY FOR the hardship faced by patients and others seeking medical care during the ongoing strike rests with the Federal Government, the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), has said.
The union urged Nigerians not to blame its members for the disruption in public health services, stating that the industrial action followed the government’s failure to meet its demands despite repeated engagements.
JOHESU said its one-point demand remains the implementation of the report on the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CHSS) for health workers.
It said the demand had remained unresolved despite assurances from President Bola Tinubu in 2023 that the relevant authorities would act.
Speaking on Channels Television (ChannelsTV) The Morning Brief on Monday, the National Secretary of JOHESU, Martin Egbanubi, said the government must take responsibility for the consequences of the strike.
“We know the impact of the strike on Nigerian citizens, but Nigerian citizens should not hold us responsible. The government should be responsible because the government must do the needful so we can avert such a strike in the future,” Egbanubi said.
He said the union understood the implications of the strike on Nigerians who could not access medical services offered by private health institutions, adding that JOHESU members had also suffered losses.
Egbanubi said the union empathised with users of public health services and described health workers as part of the wider population affected by the situation. He said the union had recorded casualties among its members, including the death of a member at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital last week.
“It’s quite unfortunate; we’ve said severally in different media engagements that we truly empathise with the masses of this country, the consumers of health services, those who cannot afford health care outside the public health institutions,” he said.
He called on well-meaning Nigerians to appeal to the government to address the union’s demand, saying JOHESU was not deriving any pleasure from continuing the strike and faced logistical difficulties in sustaining it.
Egbanubi said the strike could be suspended once the demand was addressed.
He further said the union had held several engagements with the government before resuming the strike that was suspended in 2023 after presidential intervention on June 5 of that year.
“We have also written a letter to Mr. President to remind him of the engagement on June 5, 2023,” he said.
JOHESU said it had announced an indefinite strike in November 2025, saying it would continue until the adjusted salary structure was implemented.
At a press conference in Abuja, the National Chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWU), Kabiru Minjibri, said the action was expected to disrupt medical services and academic activities nationwide.
He said the government had made no effort to reach an agreement with the unions.
Also, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) later backed the industrial action and rejected a circular from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMHSW) on the implementation of a no work no-pay policy and the stoppage of salaries of JOHESU members through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) from January 2026.
In a statement signed by its President, Festus Osifo, and Secretary General, N A Toro, the congress described the directive as unacceptable and said it undermined ongoing negotiations.
It accused the ministry of acting unilaterally while discussions with health sector unions were still ongoing.
