“Our health sector continues to bleed. It is not an accident; it is a direct result of a system that prioritises profit over people.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the Federal Government of deliberately neglecting the nation’s health sector and frustrating workers through poor welfare, unpaid entitlements, and unfulfilled promises, describing the situation as a “national tragedy.”
According to local media reporting, NLC President Joe Ajaero made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the 51st Regular National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) in Abuja.
Ajaero said the government’s attitude toward healthcare shows “a preference for foreign hospitals over building a functional domestic system.” He lamented, “You are overworked, underpaid, and disrespected… This is a calculated assault designed to break your will and privatise the commonwealth of our public health system.”
He urged all health unions to unite under a single front, insisting that “a joint struggle across the entire health sector is invincible.” Ajaero called on workers to demand “living wages, safe working conditions, and adequate funding for public health,” warning that continued neglect would deepen the brain drain crisis.
The NLC president also encouraged political organisation ahead of the 2027 elections, stressing that workers must “move beyond begging the bosses to becoming the architects of our own destiny.”