Adamant Nurses Insist Strike Won’t End Until Gov’t Meet Key Demands

The National Chairman of the National Association of Nurses and Midwives, Federal Health Institutions Sector, Morakinyo-Olajide Rilwan, has insisted that the union will not suspend its ongoing strike until key aspects of its demands were addressed.

Despite meeting with the Minister of Labour, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi on Tuesday at the expiration of its 15-day ultimatum issued on 14 July, 2025, the union carried on with the industrial action on Wednesday.

Speaking on Channels Television on Thursday, Rilwan said the striking nurses will ignore the government’s calls to return to duty without meeting some of their demands.

Asked what would happen if the government requests that they first return to work as it considers their demands, Rilwan said, “That is what the government will definitely ask for — that we should suspend the strike so they can look at our demands.

“We are not comfortable with that. We have to make sure that parts of the demand are attended to before we can suspend the strike at all.”

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He said the Union had given the government enough time to respond to their demands before embarking on the 7-day warning strike, but nothing was done.

The Minister of Labour, had on Wednesday appealed to the nurses and midwives to suspend their ongoing strike, saying that it was not the best solution to industrial disputes.

Dingyadi urged the Association to embrace dialogue while the government continues to work on addressing their concerns.

According to him, the meeting will continue on Friday at the Ministry of Health, as the government resolves the dispute.

Speaking further on the programme, Morakinyo-Olajide said although it is not in the nurses’ nature to embark on strikes, the industrial action became their last resort to get the government’s attention.

He maintained that the union must see the government’s commitment before ending the warning strike.

“It’s not actually in the nurses’ attitude to embark on a strike, and we have been patient enough because we are compassionate.

“Nurses are empathetic with their patients; we love our patients and don’t want anything to happen to them. But we waited for a long time for all these demands to be met. So, this strike happens to be the last option we have to get the government’s attention.

“Based on the insincerity and insensitivity on the part of the government, I believe some parts of these demands must be met before we can suspend the strike. We have to see serious commitment from the government before taking that step,” he said.

He outlined the nurses’ demands to include reviewing the scheme of service for nurses, upward review of allowances, speciality allowances for specialist nurses, the government’s employment of more nurses, enhancement of nurses’ remuneration, and creation of a department at the federal ministry of health, among others.