- Medical doctors in Ondo State have initiated an eight-day countdown, terminating on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, after which an emergency congress will decide on a total withdrawal of services.
- The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) is protesting the non-implementation of the 2025 Accoutrement Allowance and salary adjustment circulars, alongside the failure to pay 2024 promotion arrears.
- The union warns that the “Japa” phenomenon has left the state’s hospitals so depleted that single doctors are frequently left to manage entire General Hospitals, leading to extreme burnout and professional exhaustion.
The administrative silence from the Ondo State Government has pushed medical practitioners to the brink, as the state branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) issued an official strike notice to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Monday.
Eko Hot Blog reports that Dr. Muyiwa Alonge, the NMA Chairman, lamented that despite multiple high-level meetings and position papers submitted to the Governor’s office since late 2025, there has been “no evidence” of a commitment to revitalizing the state’s “moribund” health sector.
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The doctors are demanding an immediate shift to the new salary structure already adopted by the Federal Government and several other states.
The NMA’s grievance extends beyond pay, painting a grim picture of the daily realities in Ondo’s public hospitals.
Doctors reportedly operate in “dilapidated environments” and are frequently forced to improvise due to a lack of basic medical equipment.
“Doctors in the state service no longer have a life of their own,” Alonge stated, emphasizing that the remaining workforce is doing the labor of five people to cover the vacuum left by colleagues who have migrated abroad.
The union is insisting on an immediate recruitment drive to ease the life-threatening workload currently placed on its members.
With the deadline set for April 28, the NMA emphasized that while they are loath to abandon their patients, the “fragile” system is already collapsing under the weight of neglect.
The association called on Governor Aiyedatiwa to prove his rumored goodwill by taking decisive action on their entitlements before the window for dialogue officially closes.
