By RismadarVoice Media, December 17, 2025
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) have announced plans to picket the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare on Wednesday as part of efforts to press home their demands amid an ongoing nationwide strike.
The National Secretary of JOHESU, Martin Egbanubi, disclosed this in a telephone interview on Wednesday, saying union members from various public hospitals had already converged at the ministry.
“We are picketing the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare today. Our members from different hospitals are already at the ministry,” Egbanubi said.
The action comes amid an indefinite nationwide strike embarked upon by JOHESU and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations, which began on November 15, 2025, over what the unions described as the Federal Government’s prolonged neglect of critical issues affecting health workers.
The unions have accused the government of failing to implement the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure and address long-standing welfare and systemic challenges confronting health workers across the country.
JOHESU, an umbrella body for health sector unions, comprises 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.
Egbanubi said the union had held two meetings with government representatives since the strike began, but both ended without any resolution.
“Since we started the strike, we have met with the Federal Government twice, the meetings ended in deadlock. Since then, the government has not taken any concrete action,” he said.
He described the picketing as a legitimate aspect of industrial action aimed at drawing attention to the unions’ grievances.
“Picketing is part of industrial action. While we are on strike, we are also picketing to give effectiveness to the strike. It is all part of the industrial action,” Egbanubi added.
The ongoing strike has continued to disrupt services in public health institutions nationwide, raising concerns among patients and other stakeholders.
