Nigerian Resident Doctors Announce Nationwide Strike November 1 Over Poor Welfare

The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr Mohamed Suleiman, has announced that the association will commence an indefinite nationwide strike on November 1, 2025, over the federal government’s failure to address long-standing demands despite a 30-day ultimatum.

Speaking on ARISE News on Sunday, Dr Suleiman said the decision followed a five-hour National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Saturday, where more than 200 members agreed that dialogue with the government had reached a dead end.

“Unfortunately, after the 30 days, it was on day 26 that we had just a one-hour conversation with people who are supposed to sort out these problems,” he said. “This decision wasn’t taken lightly. The last time NARD went on strike of this nature was over two tenures ago.”

He noted that several ministries and agencies including the Federal Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour, IPPIS, and the Ministry of Finance had failed to act on critical issues affecting doctors.

“We have five doctors who were unjustly dismissed from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja. We are demanding their reinstatement,” he said. “There’s also the issue of our membership certificate being devalued. That certificate used to recognise us as specialists-in-training, but the government downgraded it.”

Dr. Suleiman painted a grim picture of the nation’s medical manpower, revealing that over 50 per cent of resident doctors have left Nigeria.

“I work 120 hours weekly as a resident in internal medicine. In surgery, it’s even worse,” he said. “Some of my colleagues are on call 31 days in a month. There’s burnout, there’s sickness, and sadly, we’ve lost some of our colleagues because of it.”

Calling for direct intervention, he urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to “cut through bureaucracy” and act swiftly, warning that the looming strike was “a national security disaster.”