KWARA DOCTORS BEGIN SEVEN-DAY WARNING STRIKE OVER SALARY DISPUTE
By: Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
Doctors employed by the Kwara State Government have embarked on a seven-day warning strike over salary deductions and the failure to implement the 2025 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).
The Chairman of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) in Kwara State, Dr Adeola Olasinde, announced the strike while addressing journalists in Ilorin.
Olasinde said the industrial action was prompted by a two per cent deduction from doctors’ September salaries for the Kwara Care Health Insurance Scheme and the non-implementation of the revised salary structure.
He said the strike affects state-owned hospitals, including the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (KWASUTH), adding that the doctors’ demands also include the recruitment of more medical personnel, payment of outstanding allowances and improved working conditions.
Olasinde explained that patients already on admission would continue to receive treatment, while unstable patients and new emergency cases would be referred to federal health facilities. He urged Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to intervene, warning that the dispute could lead to an indefinite strike if the demands remained unresolved.
Reacting to the development, the Medical Director of KWASUTH, Dr Ahmed Bola AbdulQadir, appealed to the striking doctors to return to work to prevent avoidable loss of lives.
AbdulQadir said the hospital was operating at full capacity, with critically ill patients receiving care in the wards and Intensive Care Unit, including women recovering from surgery. He urged the medical associations to resolve the dispute quickly, stressing the need to protect patients and maintain uninterrupted healthcare services.
The seven-day warning strike is expected to end on October 22, 2026.