Patients stranded across Nigeria as doctors’ strike enters 2nd week

LAGOS, Nigeria

A nationwide strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors entered its second week, leaving public hospitals across the country struggling with sharply reduced services and patients stranded without access to essential care.

The strike, which began on Nov. 1, is indefinite. The doctors are demanding unpaid salary arrears, full implementation of the 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), and improved working conditions.

An Anadolu correspondent who visited major public hospitals in several states observed significant disruptions. At Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, and other federal facilities, patients said accident and emergency units, outpatient departments, and wards had shut down.

“I have been sick for days now but hospital doctors are not working. I had to resort to local herbs but I am still feeling a lot of pain,” Mulikat Adio, a patient in UCH Ibadan, told Anadolu correspondent.

Patients admitted in LUTH, Lagos said all resident doctors had joined the strike and stopped consultations, leaving many stranded on their beds.

The doctors’ president, Muhammad Suleiman, accused the federal government of failing to address long-standing issues including unpaid salary arrears, poor working conditions, delayed promotions, and the non-implementation of the one-for-one replacement policy to curb manpower shortages.

“The current unsustainable practice of spanning duties across several days poses serious risks to physicians’ well-being and patient safety,” he told our correspondent, adding that the strike would continue until the demands were met.

In response, President Bola Tinubu directed the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to restore normal hospital services immediately. Minister of State for Health Dr. Iziaq Salako announced a task force to monitor hospitals during the strike and said consultants had been instructed to sustain emergency services.

Healthcare analysts warned that the strike could worsen pressure on the public health system, noting that many low- and middle-income Nigerians rely on government hospitals and that being turned away or delayed could have life-threatening consequences.