The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has commenced a five-day warning strike on Friday, 12 September 2025, despite assurances by the Federal Government that the action would be averted.
Resident doctors are medical school graduates training as specialists. They dominate the emergency wards of hospitals in Nigeria and are crucial to quality health care delivery nationwide.
The group had announced that it had resolved on the strike after its emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
“Arising from the NARD E-NEC meeting held on Wednesday, 10 September 2025, which extended into the early hours of Thursday, 11 September 2025. The NEC members unanimously resolved to embark on a five-day warning strike,” the statement read. The action, which commenced at 8 a.m. on Friday, and will end on Tuesday, 16 September 2025, followed the expiration of a 24-hour ultimatum issued to the federal government to meet its outstanding demands.
The ultimatum came after an earlier 10-day deadline, which lapsed on September 10 without resolution. The association confirmed the commencement of the strike in a message titled: “Declaration of strike action” and signed by the secretary-general of the NARD, Dr Oluwasola Odunbaku, yesterday. “Good morning NEC members, thank you all for your continued cooperation and understanding. As clearly stated in our earlier communique, the strike is scheduled to commence at 8:00 am today (Friday). “All centre leaderships are expected to guide their members accordingly. Further updates will be communicated to NEC members in due course,” he stated.