Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system is under fresh pressure as resident doctors across public hospitals launched a five-day strike, highlighting once again the unresolved cracks in the nation’s medical sector.
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), representing about 15,000 physicians, said the action follows the government’s failure to release the 2025 medical residency training fund and settle outstanding salary arrears. Attempts at negotiation have repeatedly stalled, leaving doctors frustrated and patients stranded.
Resident doctors are the backbone of Nigeria’s public hospitals, running emergency rooms and critical wards where urgent care cannot wait. Their absence exposes the system’s overdependence on a group already stretched thin by years of poor funding, low pay, and welfare neglect.
This strike is not an isolated flare-up. Nurses also staged a nationwide protest earlier this year, and doctors have frequently downed tools in the past — including three walkouts during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each action deepens public distrust in the system and pushes more Nigerians toward private care they often cannot afford.
Analysts warn that without structural reforms, Nigeria risks a healthcare crisis where chronic understaffing, underfunding, and brain drain worsen outcomes for millions. The doctors’ strike is therefore more than a pay dispute; it is a stark reminder that the health of Africa’s largest population rests on a system nearing its breaking point.
