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A non-governmental organization, Socialist Labour, has blamed the Federal Government for the worsening state of Nigeria’s health sector, describing the ongoing resident doctors’ strike as a desperate call to end the country’s public health disaster.
In a statement jointly signed by Dr. James Uanhoro and Dr. Izielen Agbon, the group said the strike by members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) was inevitable, given the years of government neglect, unpaid salaries, and deplorable working conditions faced by medical professionals.
“For years, successive governments in Nigeria have failed to adequately fund public health,” the statement said.
“The cost of this failure is measured in lives at least 750,000 Nigerians died in 2021 alone from preventable diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, and respiratory infections.”
According to the group, most of these deaths could have been avoided if the government had prioritized public healthcare funding and infrastructure. “If these Nigerians lived in countries that fund healthcare properly, they would likely still be alive today. Their blood is on the hands of the ruling class,” the statement added.
Resident doctors, who make up about 40 percent of the country’s medical workforce and nearly 90 percent of doctors in teaching hospitals, are key to Nigeria’s healthcare system. Yet, the group noted that these doctors work under harsh and exploitative conditions.
“Many of them work over 100 hours weekly, often staying on duty for 24 to 48 hours at a stretch with little or no rest,” the statement revealed. “Despite their sacrifices, they are owed months of salaries and denied basic welfare support.”
The group also raised alarm over the rising mental health crisis among medical professionals, noting that one in ten resident doctors have attempted suicide as a result of overwhelming stress and hopelessness.
Nigeria’s healthcare crisis, Socialist Labour said, is worsened by the continuous migration of doctors to foreign countries in search of better opportunities. Between 2019 and 2024, about 16,000 Nigerian doctors left the country to work overseas.
“In 2024 alone, 4,000 doctors graduated from Nigerian medical schools, and the same number left to practice abroad,” the statement said. “Given the poor pay and working conditions, who can blame them?”
The group lamented that Nigeria currently has only 55,000 practicing doctors, leaving some states with fewer than one doctor per 20,000 residents, compared to the international standard of one doctor per 600 people.
Socialist Labour also faulted the Federal Government’s failure to meet the 2001 Abuja Declaration, where African leaders pledged to allocate at least 15 percent of their national budgets to health.
“President Bola Tinubu’s administration currently spends only 5 percent a third of that commitment,” the organization said, describing the situation as “a tragedy of misplaced priorities.”
“It is not that Nigeria lacks money; it is that our leaders choose not to prioritize the lives of citizens,” the group emphasized. “Cuba, with far fewer resources, has one doctor for every 100 people, Nigeria can do far better.”
Socialist Labour urged the Federal Government to immediately pay all outstanding salaries owed to resident doctors, fund medical education, and invest in primary healthcare infrastructure nationwide.
It also called on the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), which has threatened to embark on a strike next week, to stand in solidarity with the doctors.
“The ongoing NARD strike and the planned JOHESU action must not fail,” the group said. “A responsible government would have acted long ago, but this government has shown that it must be dragged to do what is right.”
“A victory for the doctors and other health workers,” it added, “would be a victory for all Nigerians — and a first step toward ending the needless deaths caused by an underfunded and neglected public health system.”
