Ondo Doctors Issue Fresh Strike Ultimatum Over Worsening Welfare Conditions

Medical doctors in Ondo State have issued a fresh threat to embark on industrial action over worsening welfare conditions, manpower shortages, and declining healthcare infrastructure across the state.

The warning was issued during a joint press briefing by the Ondo State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and its affiliate bodies, where health professionals raised alarm over what they described as a deepening crisis in government-owned hospitals.

The doctors said years of poor remuneration, inadequate recruitment and neglect of the health sector had severely weakened healthcare delivery, increasing pressure on the few available personnel.

Speaking at the briefing, the state NMA chairman, Dr. Abel Alonge, said the number of doctors in Ondo State had declined sharply over the past 12 years despite a growing population.

According to him, many general hospitals across the state now operate with either one doctor or none, creating unsafe and unsustainable working conditions for healthcare workers.

Alonge disclosed that the doctor-to-population ratio in the state currently stands at about one doctor to 6,200 people, far below the World Health Organization’s recommended standard.

“The number of doctors serving the state today has dropped by about half of what it was about 12 years ago. At that time, the population was about 3.5 million, but today the population is estimated at about 5.8 million,” he said.

He also lamented the poor state of hospital infrastructure, noting that many facilities still rely on obsolete equipment that has been in use for 10 to 20 years.

Also speaking, the chairman of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria in Ondo State, Dr. Stephen Adewole, described the state as the lowest-paying employer of health workers in the South-West.

He said poor salaries and working conditions had triggered an ongoing exodus of doctors to neighbouring states such as Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti and Osun in search of better welfare packages.

The consultants further accused the state government of failing to implement the revised federal remuneration package for medical and dental practitioners approved in November 2025.

Similarly, the president of the Association of Resident Doctors in Ondo State, Dr. Kehinde Olagbe, warned that continued neglect of healthcare workers’ welfare could further cripple the state’s health system.

The doctors demanded immediate implementation of the federal remuneration circular with arrears, improved welfare packages, urgent recruitment of medical personnel, and rehabilitation of health facilities across the state.

They warned that failure to meet their demands within a fresh seven-day ultimatum—after earlier 14-day and 21-day notices could trigger an industrial action that may further strain the already overstretched health system.