Nurses in Osun State have joined the ongoing nationwide seven-day warning strike to press for improved remuneration and welfare conditions, saying they have long been undervalued within the healthcare system.
State Chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Oladele Olaniran, said the strike action was part of a coordinated push to demand attention to nine critical welfare-related issues. Top among these is the implementation of the long-delayed scheme of service gazette, which has remained inactive since 2016.
Olaniran expressed frustration that nurses, despite being highly qualified, continue to receive the lowest compensation among clinical professionals. “We have Master’s degree holders, PhDs, even professors in nursing, but the value placed on us is appalling,” he said.
He added that the strike would continue if the federal government fails to take concrete action on their demands. “We’ve received too many empty promises. This time, we expect real progress.”
At the Osun State University Teaching Hospital and the General Hospital in Asubiaro, nurses were absent from duty, leaving doctors to manage skeletal services in the interim.
