Tension mounts in health sector as resident doctors declare 5-day warning strike over unmet demands

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has declared a five-day nationwide warning strike, intensifying concerns within Nigeria’s already fragile healthcare system.

The announcement followed an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held virtually and concluded in the early hours of Thursday. Agbor Affiong, General Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration’s Association of Resident Doctors, confirmed the decision in an official statement.

According to the resolution, the strike is set to commence at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, September 12, 2025, and will run through Tuesday, September 16, 2025. The communiqué directed all centres to “formally notify their hospital managements and continue to press home our collective demands.”

Affiong noted that NEC members reached the decision unanimously after what she described as the government's failure to address persistent issues affecting doctors’ welfare. She explained that “several unresolved issues affecting doctors’ welfare remain unattended.”

Resident doctors, who form the bulk of the workforce in federal medical institutions, have long voiced frustration over unpaid allowances, salary arrears, and poor working conditions. The latest strike threatens to paralyze operations in teaching and specialist hospitals nationwide.

This development comes at a particularly critical time for Nigeria’s health sector, which continues to grapple with limited manpower, underfunding, and a growing exodus of healthcare professionals seeking better opportunities abroad.

Unless urgent measures are taken to resolve the dispute, patients across the country may face severe disruptions in critical healthcare services over the next several days.