By Raymond Ozoji
Patients seeking medical care or admitted in government hospitals across Ànambra State are in for hard times as health workers begin indefinite strike Tuesday, this week, over government complacent attitudes towards their demands.
Union leaders in the health sector had held a press conference notifying the powers that be that health workers in Anambra State are living in abject penury and squalor due to poor remuneration and government refusal to implement 2010 CONHESS for them which other states in Nigeria have long implemented.
Following series of meetings between representatives of the health workers and government shortly after the press conference, health professionals deferred the strike for the sake of patients.
However, it does appear that the decision to suspend the initial planned strike seems to be taken for granted by the government .
Hence health workers in the state have resolved to shutdown services in all government health facilities beginning from Tuesday, this week, to vent their anger over government insensitive and nonchalant attitude towards their welfare and well-being as contained in a statement dated 26th September, 2025, and jointly signed by Dr. Ikedi Onah, Comrade Mathew Ugwu and Comrade Afam Udeozo.
The statement reads, “As you may recall, the healthcare professionals and workers in the employ of the state government and the local government areas of Anambra State under the aegis of Anambra State Organized Health Sector Unions issued a 15-day ultimatum to the state government on the 19th of August, 2025.
This was suspended for 4 weeks at the joint request of the Commissioner for Health and the Chairmen of both the NLC and TUC Anambra State. Precisely on the 24th September, 2025, 4 days to the deadline of the aforementioned 4 weeks moratorium, the Secretary to the State Government convened a meeting in his office. In attendance were the Head of Service, the Commissioner for Health and Information, Head of Medical Services, Chairmen of Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, and health workers’ union leaders. Compelling sentiments were raised by the government side, appealing to the union leaders to shelve the strike, though without any commitment or tangible agreement.
“Those appeals were considered and explicitly communicated to the workers in an emergency state delegates conference on 26th September, 2025 and was dead on arrival and vehemently resisted. Your Excellency sir, as a result of the unanimous stance of the workers not to concede the declaration of industrial action, we have no other option than to commence an indefinite strike on Tuesday, after the midnight of 29th September, 2025.”
