Doctors under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, have commenced an indefinite strike over the failure of the hospital management and state government to meet their long-standing demands.
The industrial action, which began at 12:00am on Tuesday, July 29, followed the expiration of a three-week ultimatum issued to the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. Olawale Olakulehin, in a letter dated July 8.
In the notice titled “Re: Notice of Industrial Action,” the doctors acknowledged partial efforts by the management to meet some of their demands, including payment of upgrade arrears and refund of examination/update course fees. However, they lamented the continued neglect of other key issues, such as the implementation of the new minimum wage with accrued arrears from January 2025, disbursement of the Medical Residency Training Fund, payment of accoutrement allowance, recruitment of doctors across departments, and the renovation of call rooms.
“After thorough deliberations and by majority resolution, the congress has agreed to grant a grace period of three weeks,” the letter read. “Failure to meet the outlined demands by the 29th of July, 2025 will result in the commencement of total and indefinite industrial action.”
In a follow-up letter dated July 28, jointly signed by the ARD President, Dr. Stephen Adedokun, and General Secretary, Dr. Adedapo Mustapha, the doctors formally notified the CMD of their decision to down tools. The letter, titled “Notice of Indefinite Industrial Action Effective 12:00am, 29th July, 2025,” stated that the decision was made after exhausting all peaceful avenues for resolution.
“This decision comes after extensive internal consultations and exhausting all peaceful means of resolution. The lack of meaningful response and commitment from the management leaves us with no viable alternative but to activate this action in defence of the welfare and professional dignity of our members,” it stated.
Dr. Adedokun, in an interview with our correspondent, confirmed that the strike resumed due to the government’s failure to fulfil promises made when the previous month-long strike was suspended on April 8.
The resident doctors had earlier raised concerns about the looming collapse of the teaching hospital due to massive staff exodus, poor remuneration, and inadequate government support. In an open letter dated July 4 and addressed to Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, they revealed that the number of resident doctors had drastically dropped from nearly 270 to fewer than 65.
The striking doctors insist that they will not return to work until tangible and satisfactory measures are taken by both the hospital management and the state government to address their grievances.
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