The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State chapter, has threatened to embark on a solidarity strike in support of the Medical Guild if the state government fails to address doctors’ welfare concerns.
The warning followed an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) held by the association, where members resolved to demand an immediate refund of July 2025 salary deductions and full payment of August wages on or before August 25.
In a communiqué signed by its chairman, Dr. Saheed Kehinde, the NMA stated that it would commence a strike action two weeks after the Medical Guild begins its own if government fails to respond.
The association also expressed displeasure over unresolved issues, including the absence of call duty meals for doctors and the non-payment of skipping arrears at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). While other federal health institutions have settled these arrears, doctors at LUTH have yet to be paid.
The salary deductions, first introduced by the Lagos State Government on April 23, 2025, sparked widespread protests before they were eventually suspended. However, deductions reportedly reappeared in July, prompting renewed agitation.
The NMA insisted that doctors on call are entitled to free meals and rejected any policy to the contrary. It further stressed that “workers are entitled to their wages irrespective of when arrears were incurred.”
Calling for urgent intervention, the association urged the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, to liaise with relevant authorities to ensure immediate reversal of the July deductions, timely payment of August salaries, and a lasting solution to what it described as “obnoxious and crisis-prone” policies.
