Nigerian Doctors Strike Highlights Healthcare Crisis

In Nigeria, resident doctors serving in public hospitals commenced a five-day strike on Friday, driven by unpaid allowances and unresolved welfare concerns, according to their union. Kazeem Odumbaku, secretary general of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), informed Reuters about the government's failure to meet demands, including the distribution of the 2025 medical residency training fund and salary arrears.

The association emphasized that repeated negotiations with government officials have yielded no results. Resident doctors, who are medical graduates training as specialists, play a crucial role in Nigeria's healthcare system, particularly in emergency wards.

This strike, involving around 15,000 resident doctors out of more than 40,000 nationwide, follows a similar action by Nigerian nurses in July over pay and staffing disputes. Nigerian doctors frequently strike over perceived poor working conditions amidst underfunding and mismanagement, having done so three times in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.