Nurses Strike Grounds Hospitals Nationwide, Leaves Patients Stranded and Groaning

RYNI News | Blessing Isiuwa
31 July 2025

Hospitals across Nigeria have descended into eerie silence, their once-bustling wards now hauntingly still on Wednesday as thousands of nurses under the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM-FHI) laid down their tools, plunging the nation’s fragile healthcare system into chaos. The seven-day warning strike—described as total and uncompromising—has forced widespread shutdowns, discharged patients prematurely, and exposed the overstretched limits of a system long held together by nursing staff.

From Abuja to Bayelsa, Benue to Borno, scenes of despair unfolded. Parents cradled sick children on benches, patients leaned helplessly against cold walls, and doctors struggled under crushing workloads in near-deserted wards. At Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, the usually packed General Outpatient and Surgical Units were shadows of themselves, with long queues and minimal staff trying to sustain skeletal services.

At Wuse General Hospital, the situation was more dire—wards were shuttered entirely, and emergency patients were turned away. “We’re overwhelmed,” said a doctor at the facility. “Without nurses, we can’t provide meaningful care. They are the soul of the system.”

NANNM-FHI’s demands are far-reaching but not new. The union seeks an upward review of shift and uniform allowances, creation of a dedicated nursing salary structure, employment of more nurses, and the establishment of a Nursing Directorate within the Federal Ministry of Health. Other key demands include inclusion of nurses in top policy-making roles and a gazetted scheme of service that recognises their professional worth.

At Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, NANNM officials ensured complete compliance. Liberia Progress, the hospital’s NANNM Chairman, reaffirmed that “no skeletal services” would be rendered. “We’ve done our best, endured poor working conditions for too long. Now, we are demanding what’s due,” she said.

In an interview with The PUNCH, Dame Okafor, Director of the Nursing Division at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, confirmed that the government has finally responded by scheduling a high-level stakeholder meeting for Friday. “We are in a meeting now with the Honourable Minister and union leaders in an effort to resolve the situation,” she stated.

She further disclosed that the Coordinating Minister of Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, had cut short a scheduled visit to Maiduguri to address the crisis. “Though it may seem late—because this ought to have been handled before the strike—it’s better now than never,” she admitted.

The upcoming meeting is expected to bring together key government bodies including the Office of the Head of Service, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Office of the Accountant General, the National Salaries and Wages Commission, and NANNM leadership.

But union leaders are clear: this is just the beginning.

“If our nine-point demands are not met after these seven days, we will issue a 21-day ultimatum, after which a nationwide indefinite strike will follow,” warned Joe Akpi, NANNM Chairman at one facility.

As negotiations inch forward, millions of patients remain in limbo—caught in the crossfire between an overstretched workforce and a government struggling to keep its promises.

As patients grow restless and wards remain silent, the strike underscores a deeper crisis: the systemic undervaluing of nurses—an important stakeholder of Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system.

Until the stethoscopes of nurses are returned to the wards, millions of Nigerians remain in medical limbo, caught between policy delay and collapsing care.

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