By: Sunday Ameh
The Revolutionary Socialist Movement (RSM) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to immediately address the ongoing strike by doctors and health workers across the country, describing their demands as legitimate, urgent, and long overdue.
In a statement signed by Salako Kayode, the Publicity Secretary of RSM, the group condemned the government’s failure to meet the needs of medical professionals despite years of unfulfilled promises, poor working conditions, and chronic underfunding of public hospitals.
According to RSM, the demands of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) for better pay and improved welfare are “just and legitimate.”
The statement emphasised that the nation’s health sector has been crippled by neglect, calling for massive government investment rather than privatisation or outsourcing.
“The health sector cannot continue under chronic neglect. What Nigeria needs is long-term investment in public healthcare, not privatisation or profit-driven management,” the group declared.
The RSM also criticised government officials for urging striking workers to prioritise patients, noting that many political elites regularly travel abroad for medical treatment while public hospitals remain in poor condition.
“We reject the appeal by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare calling on health workers to prioritise the welfare of Nigerians while those in power travel overseas for medical care. These same leaders have looted public hospitals and ignored repeated agreements with unions,” the statement added.
RSM further linked the crisis in the health sector to broader economic and social decay, including the collapse of public education, mass youth unemployment, and rising living costs.
The movement described the ongoing strike, now in its third week, as part of a larger struggle by Nigeria’s working class against capitalist exploitation and neoliberal policies that have undermined social services for decades.
“The strike is a courageous stand by doctors and other health professionals against injustice. It is a fight not only for better wages and conditions but for a fairer society that prioritises people over profit,” RSM said.
The organisation also called on trade unions, student bodies, and civil society groups to stand in solidarity with the striking health workers, urging Nigerians to use the moment to demand a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system.
RSM concluded by calling for a nationwide movement to resist austerity and demand social justice, insisting that decent healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
Leave a Reply