Industrial tension may have reached breaking point within the Anambra State and her Local Government Areas health sector.
The ugly situation as painted by the Anambra State Organized Health Sector Unions including the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) and the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAP) came up due to the non implementation and unanswered demands long approved for the members and were already being enjoyed by colleagues elsewhere.
These health sector professionals include Nurses, Laboratory scientists, Pharmacists, and other Allied professionals working in Anambra State and the Local Government owned hospitals.
The incensed workers in a letter dated August 19, 2025 to Gov Chukwuma Soludo to appraise and remind him of the tenuous plight, they lamenting that their cries have been clearly muffled, ignored and clearly neglected.
That the governments’ indifference, they suspected could have been as a result of wrong, false, misleading and or deceptive presentation of the true picture of things to the governor by aides.
The alleged unfortunate misleading picture of stability in the sector being presented to Gov Chukwuma Soludo
The workers argue was far removed from the reality on ground.
According to them, healthcare professionals in Anambra State live in penury, neglected by the same State government and her Councils who were expected to protect and empower them.
Unfortunately their colleagues in other states of the federation, even those within the geopolitical area enjoy better remuneration/conditions of service already approved by the Federal Government.
Consequently, the intense frustration, has apparently forced them to drop 4th September 2025 date to embark on a comprehensive industrial action.
The situation which they dropped with pains before journalists at a media briefing in Awka, the state capital would affect all state and local government owned hospitals.
When asked for a way out, they gave a firm response, “unless our demands are met, a total strike will inevitably commence across the state.”
They insist that when this action begins, it will not be the workers alone who suffer the consequences but ordinary citizens, fathers, mothers, children, who depend on the health system daily.
Responsibility, they maintain, will rest squarely with the governor and his aides who they accused of misrepresenting the true state of affairs in the sector to him.
They however were reluctant to exonerate the governor of blame completely, as they tendered formally acknowledged letters serially forwarded to the governor over the months with no response or action.
A History of Broken Promises and Silence
The grievances of health workers in Anambra are not new, nor are they extravagant. They are demands tied to conditions of service already recognised by the Federal Government of Nigeria and implemented in most states for more than five years. Some of these benefits have since been reviewed upward by as much as 25 percent. Yet in Anambra, workers remain stuck, pleading cap in hand for entitlements others already take for granted.
The timeline of broken promises, the Union leaders say, tells its own story. On 6th January 2025, the first 15-day ultimatum given to the government expired. Instead of action, the unions were invited to dialogue with the Commissioner for Health. Promises were made that the resolutions would be transmitted to the governor for approval. But days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. For over seven months, there was no response, just silence.
By July 2025, frustration reached boiling point. The workers issued a second ultimatum, effective from 1st August to 15th August. Again, the Commissioner convened a meeting, but the outcome was described as shallow and unconvincing. At the expanded State Executive Council meeting, members rejected the proposals outright, viewing them as an insult to their profession.
On 20th August 2025, a third ultimatum was issued, giving the government until 3rd September to respond. Yet, once more, there was silence. With the deadline now drawing near, workers argue they have been left with no option but to proceed with industrial action.
Demands That Are Just Clear, and Long Overdue
The demands on the table are, according to the workers, neither excessive nor novel. Rather, they are basic conditions to ensure that health professionals can live and work with dignity. They include:
*Full implementation of the 100% CONHESS salary structure across state and local government systems.
*Implementation of the reviewed CONHESS table with a 25 percent upward adjustment.
*Payment of Rural Posting Allowances for staff serving in remote areas.
*Improved call duty, shift allowances, and hazard allowances that reflect the risks of their work.
*Establishment of internship programmes for fresh graduates of Nursing Science and other health professions.
*Conduct of overdue promotions in the Health Management Board (HMB) and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), with arrears settled.
*Recruitment of additional health professionals to fill critical manpower gaps.
“These are lawful entitlements,” one union leader explained. “They are already in effect in many neighbouring states. Anambra, with its wealth and human capital, should not continue to treat health workers as expendables”
The Cost of Government Neglect
Anambra is not one of Nigeria’s poorest states. It is a vibrant, economically viable state with industrious people, thriving commerce, and strong markets. Yet when it comes to investing in healthcare, workers argue, the government has chosen neglect.
Despite being highly trained, many health workers in the state live in poverty. Salaries are irregular, allowances unpaid, and working conditions harsh. The result has been a steady exodus of professionals. Nurses and midwives trained in Anambra now leave in droves for Lagos, Abuja, or even outside Nigeria in search of dignity and fair pay.
This systematic brain drain has left hospitals dangerously understaffed. Nurses are often forced to work 24-hour shifts for little pay. Midwives deliver babies without essential tools. Laboratory scientists operate without sufficient reagents. The outcome is a health system stretched to breaking point.
“When conditions deteriorate to this extent, it is not only the worker who suffers,” said another senior health official. “It is every patient who walks through the hospital doors. The system collapses, and lives are placed at risk.”
Allegations Against Aides
Central to the workers’ grievances are accusations that Governor Soludo’s aides have failed to communicate the true situation to him. Union leaders allege that the governor is being misled by lieutenants who portray calm and satisfaction within the health sector while workers languish.
“The aides are not serving him well,” said a union communiqué. “They are shielding him from the truth, pretending all is well, while hospitals decay and health workers despair. In failing us, they are failing him, and ultimately failing the people of Anambra.”
*Potential Impact of the Strike*
If the strike begins as planned on 4th September, health services across Anambra will be paralysed. Public hospitals, primary health centres, and state-owned facilities will shut down. Emergency care, maternal health services, and routine outpatient care will all be disrupted.
Union leaders warn that this action is not a bluff. It will be total, and its impact will be devastating. Patients will be turned away. Pregnant women will suffer delays in delivery. Children could die from preventable conditions. History, the workers caution, will record that silence triumphed over justice.
The Way Forward
Despite the looming crisis, health professionals insist the dispute can still be resolved. The solution, they say, lies in immediate government action:
Implement the CONHESS structure and allowances without further delay.
Honour outstanding promotions and recruit new staff to ease shortages.
Recognise and respect health workers as the backbone of the state’s survival.
The workers argue that these measures are within reach and require only political will. But with the strike deadline looming, they warn that time is running out.
Survival of healthcare
For health professionals in Anambra, the issue transcends wages. It is a fight for dignity, justice, and the survival of healthcare in the state.
“We have whispered, we have pleaded, we have written letters, and we have waited,” a union representative said. “Now we raise our voices for all to hear. The government must choose: listen to its health workers and avert disaster, or remain silent and watch the collapse of a sector upon which millions depend.”
On 4th September 2025, if nothing changes, the strike will begin. And when it does, the unions stress, no one will be able to say they were not warned. The choice, they emphasized now rests firmly with Gov Soludo and his administration, stressing that they have endured enough, hence should not be blamed for the industrial disharmony.
