Members of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan Chapter, have been urged to remain resolute in the face of intimidation as their industrial action continues.
The Chairman of UCH JOHESU, Comrade Oladayo Olabampe, made the call on Friday during a peaceful protest staged within the hospital premises.
JOHESU members at UCH have been on strike since Nov. 17, 2025, following a directive from the union’s national leadership.
The union is demanding an upward adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Scale (CONHESS) in line with the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), which was reviewed in 2014.
Addressing protesters, Olabampe said the strike would continue until the Federal Government responds favorably to the union’s demands.
He stressed that picketing was a lawful union activity and urged members not to be deterred by any form of intimidation.
“All we want is for the government to adjust CONHESS as it did for CONMESS.
“Remain steadfast, because no amount of victimization can derail this struggle.
“Doctors may be at work, but they cannot work alone. A tree cannot make a forest, which is why the hospital has become a ghost facility,” he said.
Olabampe also appealed to the public to hold the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare accountable for resolving the impasse.
Also speaking, the National Vice-President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), South-West Zone, Comrade Sunday Adetula, called on Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) to refrain from implementing the “no work, no pay” circular.
“We are using this medium to tell CMDs that this is not their strike; it is a fight for our rights.
“If our members are not paid their January salaries, the situation will escalate.
“We will occupy all tertiary health institutions in the South-West by February, and peace will not be guaranteed in the health sector,” Adetula warned.
During the protest, union members marched from the hospital’s Health Insurance Department through various sections of the facility, including the main gate.
They expressed dissatisfaction with recent actions by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, particularly the issuance of the “no work, no pay” circular.
Protesters also displayed placards bearing inscriptions such as “No CONHESS Adjustment, No Work.”
