“21 days or we shut down”: Medical lecturers threaten nationwide strike over pay disparity

Nigeria’s medical schools are staring at another shutdown.

The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics, NAMDA, on Tuesday gave the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to fix long-standing pay and welfare issues — or face an indefinite nationwide strike.

The warning came after the association’s National Executive Council meeting in Abuja.

—“We’ve talked for 2 years. Nothing has changed”—-

NAMDA President, Dr. Nosa Orhue, said the government has dragged negotiations since April 9, 2026, with no conclusion in sight.

“We have engaged the government through dialogue for more than 24 months without meaningful progress,” he said. “If talks fail within 21 days, NEC will reconvene to determine our next line of action.”

Translation: the clock is ticking.

—-The core anger: same job, different pay—-

Orhue said the biggest wound is salary inequality.
University-based medical lecturers, he argued, do the same clinical work as hospital consultants — surgeries, patient care, hospital administration — plus teaching and research. Yet they earn far less.

To make matters worse, other university unions have gotten improved welfare packages. NAMDA members have not.

The result: unpaid earned academic and professorial allowances, and a worsening brain drain as medical academics leave for hospitals or abroad.

—CONMESS or nothing—

NAMDA insists the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, is the only acceptable pay framework for medical and dental academics.

Orhue recalled that government had previously placed them on CONMESS because of their unique triple role. Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa has also backed salary parity and written to the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

But according to NAMDA, “some government agencies” are frustrating implementation.

The association also rejected attempts to force members above 65 years off CONMESS onto the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure, CONUASS.

“That is a demotion,” Orhue said. “It comes with financial losses.”

*More demands on the table*

Beyond salaries, NAMDA is asking for:

1. Special pension benefits for retired hospital-based academics
2. Reversal of NUC’s PhD requirement for medical academics

—But they praised Tinubu on health preparedness—

Despite the hard line, Orhue commended the Tinubu administration for efforts to improve university education and for the Minister’s support on salary parity.

He also applauded FG’s preparedness for a possible Ebola outbreak and pledged NAMDA’s support to strengthen the country’s public health response.

—What happens next—

For now, the ball is in government’s court. 21 days.

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If nothing moves, Nigeria’s teaching hospitals and medical faculties could grind to a halt — right in the middle of efforts to fix healthcare manpower and curb brain drain.

“We don’t want to strike,” Orhue implied. “But we cannot continue to be treated as second-class doctors.”