In spite of claims by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, that the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has suspended the current seven-day warning strike, the NANNM has insisted that it has not been suspended.
The strike action, begun at midnight Tuesday, July 29, 2025, has continued to paralyze medical care in public hospitals across the nation. Nurses’ absence from posts has left patients stranded and doctors overwhelmed with the workload.
Following a notice of a meeting between NANNM representatives and the federal government, the union clarified that there was no consensus to suspend the strike. NANNM National Hospital, Abuja, Chairman Comrade Joseph Awujah Akpi explained in an interview with LEADERSHIP that the representatives who met with the minister were not authorized to end the action.
What they did today was a government meeting. Those who went are like messengers; they don’t have the authority to decide. Just as we were officially told before the strike, we must be officially told if it is going to be suspended,” Akpi said.
Echoing Akpi’s remarks, Omomo Tibiebi, Public Relations Officer of NANNM’s Federal Health Institutions (FHI) sector, stated that the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) is scheduled to meet on Saturday to evaluate the government’s proposals and determine the next course of action.
“There will be a National Executive Council meeting on Saturday. That’s when a decision will be made on whether to suspend the strike,” Tibiebi noted.
The nurses’ demands include:
- Review of shift allowances upwards
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Re-adjustment of uniform allowances
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Introduction of a separate nursing salary structure
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Improvement of core duty allowances
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Mass recruitment of nurses
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Creation of a Department of Nursing Services within the Federal Ministry of Health
The strike would continue until the NEC makes a ruling, putting thousands of patients around the nation in limbo and further straining the nation’s already strained healthcare system.
