Resident doctors demand implementation of 13-point agreement, citing unpaid allowances, poor welfare, unsafe working conditions and worsening healthcare crisis.
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has issued the Federal Government a final ultimatum, threatening to embark on a total, comprehensive and indefinite nationwide strike from 8:00 a.m. on Monday, August 10, 2026, if its demands are not met.
The decision was announced in a communiqué signed by NARD President, Dr. Mohammad Suleiman, Secretary-General, Dr. Shuaibu Ibrahim, and Publicity Secretary, Dr. Abdulmajid Yahya, following the association’s National Executive Council meeting held in Gombe State.
NARD accused the government of failing to implement the terms of an earlier Memorandum of Understanding, highlighting unresolved issues including unpaid salary and promotion arrears, outstanding allowances, poor working conditions, attacks on healthcare workers, and alleged intimidation of resident doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
The association also raised concerns over the country’s shrinking medical workforce, revealing that the number of resident doctors has dropped from about 25,000 to just over 12,000 despite Nigeria’s population exceeding 230 million.
Among its 13 demands are the immediate payment of outstanding CONMESS arrears, Medical Residency Training Fund allowances, improved welfare for doctors, stronger legal protection against attacks on healthcare workers, rehabilitation of health facilities, and urgent intervention in the crisis at LUTH.
NARD warned that it would no longer extend deadlines, insisting that failure to substantially address its demands before August 10 would result in an indefinite industrial action capable of disrupting healthcare services across public hospitals nationwide.