The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has launched a scathing attack on the government, accusing officials of deliberately neglecting the health sector and pushing it toward total collapse.

NLC President Joe Ajaero declared the situation a national tragedy, attributing the decay to poor welfare, unpaid entitlements, and broken promises to health workers.

Speaking at the 51st Regular National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) in Abuja, Ajaero asserted that the government’s disregard for public healthcare reflects a clear preference for foreign hospitals.

“Our health sector continues to bleed,” Ajaero stated, describing the crisis as “a direct result of a system that prioritises profit over people.”

He argued that health workers including pharmacists, laboratory scientists, and porters are the nation’s lifeblood, yet they are forced to operate in sickening conditions.

The NLC President charged that the neglect is a calculated assault designed to break workers’ resolve and facilitate the privatization of the public health system.

He linked the personal choices of officials to the systemic failure, saying that due to guilt over the neglect, they prefer to die abroad.

Ajaero stressed that health workers are the soul of Nigeria’s survival, and unfair treatment toward them devalues the entire working class.

He presented the workers with two choices, echoing Karl Marx: to withdraw their labour (which manifests as burnout and brain drain or “Japa”), or to become more committed to the struggle for radical change.

To combat this, the NLC leader called for a united front among all health sector unions, insisting that “A joint struggle across the entire health sector is invincible.”

He urged MHWUN to use the NEC meeting to forge an unbreakable alliance with groups like JOHESU and develop concrete action plans.

Ajaero demanded that the workers “not let them pacify you with tokens,” but instead demand a fundamental restructuring of the health sector, including living wages, safe working conditions, and adequate public funding.

Beyond immediate industrial demands, Ajaero also emphasized the crucial need for political organization ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He urged workers to stop begging the bosses and instead become the architects of our own destiny by building a political movement that directly represents their interests.

The NLC concluded by reaffirming its solidarity, stating, “Your fight is our fight. Together, we will heal the healers, and in doing so, we will begin to heal our nation.”