Nigeria’s Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has rejected calls to suspend its ongoing nationwide strike, insisting that any decision to halt the industrial action must be taken collectively by its affiliate unions.
The president of JOHESU, Kabiru Minjibir, said on Sunday that the unions had made their position clear to the federal government’s negotiation committee, stressing that the leadership could not unilaterally call off the strike without consulting its members.
Although the committee urged the unions to suspend the action following recent engagements, Minjibir said JOHESU declined and instead resolved to convene an expanded meeting of its national executive council to deliberate on the matter.
“The committee has met and asked us to suspend the strike, but we told them we cannot do that without consulting the unions,” Minjibir said in a telephone interview. “We have to report back to our members. That is why we are planning an expanded NEC meeting, likely to be held next week, possibly before Christmas. Until then, the strike continues.”
JOHESU, working with the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations, began an indefinite nationwide strike on 15 November over the federal government’s failure to implement the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure, as well as unresolved welfare and systemic issues affecting health workers.
In response, President Bola Tinubu set up a high-level committee to negotiate with the unions. The panel is expected to brief senior government officials — including the ministers of health and social welfare, finance, and labour and employment, as well as the director general of the budget office — on the outcome of its discussions with JOHESU.
Minjibir also disclosed that the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress met Tinubu on Tuesday night, during which the issues affecting JOHESU were formally presented to the president.
JOHESU is an umbrella body representing several health sector unions, including the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.
The prolonged strike has continued to disrupt services in public health institutions across the country, intensifying concerns among patients and healthcare stakeholders about access to care and the broader impact on an already strained health system.
