FG, nurses union in emergency talks as warning strike begins over unmet demands
The federal government has opened talks with the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) in a bid to halt a looming industrial action that could further disrupt the country’s fragile healthcare system.
The engagement, led by Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, minister of labour and employment, comes amid growing discontent among health workers over long-standing demands.
In a statement issued Wednesday by Patience Onuobia, head of press and public relations at the ministry, the government expressed concern over the planned strike and appealed to the union to consider dialogue as a more productive alternative to protest.
It warned that another strike could destabilise the health sector, urging the nurses to embrace ongoing negotiations rather than take actions that would “worsen an already delicate system.”
Despite the intervention, NANNM began a seven-day warning strike on Wednesday, July 30, following the expiration of its 15-day ultimatum issued on July 14.
The union said the strike was triggered by the government’s failure to act on several unresolved demands, including the gazetting of the revised nurses’ scheme of service approved by the National Council on Establishment (NCE) since 2016.
Other demands include the implementation of a 2012 National Industrial Court judgement in favour of nurses and an upward review of professional allowances for nurses and midwives across the country.
