President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) Joe Ajaero has challenged medical and health workers to resolve to organise, mobilise, and fight back against what he described as the unjust treatments in the country’s hospitals and health institutions.
The NLC president who took a swipe at the government for deliberately neglecting the health sector and frustrating health workers through poor welfare, unpaid entitlements, and broken promises, describing the situation as a national tragedy.
Ajaero, who spoke at the opening ceremony of the 51st Regular National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, in Abuja, said the government’s attitude towards public healthcare and the welfare of medical workers reflected a preference for foreign hospitals over building a functional domestic system capable of serving Nigerians equitably.
According to him, “Our health sector continues to bleed. It is not an accident; it is a direct result of a system that prioritizes profit over people, that sees healthcare as a commodity and health workers as disposable instruments.
“You, the frontline workers in every pandemic – the pharmacists, the laboratory scientists, the porters – you are the lifeblood of this nation’s well-being, yet you are forced to work in conditions that sicken the very spirit of healing.
“You are overworked, underpaid, and disrespected. You face unimaginable trauma daily, only to be met with empty promises and a blatant disregard for your welfare. This is a calculated assault designed to break your will and privatize the commonwealth of our public health system.
“You have suffered severally from the unfaithfulness of the government to negotiated agreements because premium is not placed on the services that you render. Maybe, out of guilt, they prefer to die abroad!”
Asserting that health workers remained the soul of Nigeria’s survival, the NLC president argued that when any worker was treated unfairly, “the entire working class is devalued”.
He said, “When you are forced to operate in a state of despair, you have only two choices, as the great Karl Marx identified: to withdraw your labour or to become more committed to the struggle.
“Withdrawal is not just a strike, it is the quiet despair that leads to burnout, to brain drain, to a slow death of the system. But the commitment you show by being here today is the fuel of radical change. It is the resolve to organise, to mobilise, and fight back against the unjust treatments in our hospitals and health institutions across the nation.”
Calling for a united front among all health sector unions to push for improved working conditions, living wages, and proper funding of public health institutions, Ajaero said “Our solutions must, therefore, be as radical as the problems we face. We must unite and broaden the struggle; forge an unbreakable alliance with all health sector unions.
“Your strength is in your unity. A joint struggle across the entire health sector is invincible. JOHESU must be reinvigorated by bringing all unions on board”.
Ajaero urged MHWUN to use the NEC meeting as a platform for concrete resolutions and action plans to demand reform in the health system.
He said: “This NEC meeting should not be a talk shop; it should be a situation room. The decisions you make here must resonate in the halls of power and on the floors of every hospital in Nigeria. Do not let them pacify you with tokens; demand a fundamental restructuring of the health sector.
“Demand living wages, safe working conditions, and adequate funding for public health. If not, Japa!”
He further underscored the need for political organisation ahead of the 2027 elections, urging workers to build a political movement that represents their interests, rather than depending on politicians.
“We must move beyond begging the bosses to becoming the architects of our own destiny,” Ajaero stated.
