NLC
By Olayiwola Mercy
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has strongly criticized the government for neglecting the health sector, accusing officials of preferring foreign hospitals over domestic healthcare. NLC President Joe Ajaero stated that the government’s attitude towards public healthcare and the welfare of medical workers reflects a preference for foreign hospitals, where officials seek medical treatment, while abandoning the nation’s healthcare system and its workers.
Ajaero emphasized that health workers are the soul of Nigeria’s survival, yet they are overworked, underpaid, and disrespected. He lamented that frontline workers, including pharmacists, laboratory scientists, and hospital attendants, face unimaginable trauma daily, only to be met with empty promises and blatant disregard for their welfare. This, he said, is a national tragedy.
According to Ajaero, the government’s neglect of the health sector is a direct result of a system that prioritizes profit over people, seeing healthcare as a commodity and health workers as disposable instruments. He urged the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) to use their National Executive Council (NEC) meeting as a platform for concrete resolutions and action plans to demand reform in the health system.
Ajaero called for a fundamental restructuring of the health sector, demanding living wages, safe working conditions, and adequate funding for public health. He emphasized that withdrawal from work is not just a strike, but a quiet despair that leads to burnout, brain drain, and a slow death of the system. However, commitment to the struggle, he said, is the fuel of radical change.
The NLC president also highlighted the need for a united front among all health sector unions to push for improved working conditions, living wages, and proper funding of public health institutions. He saluted the leadership of MHWUN and past labour icons for their resilience in the struggle for justice and workers’ welfare.
This criticism is not new, as medical professionals have long highlighted the issue of medical tourism among Nigeria’s leaders. The country’s health system has been described as being in a state of crisis, with leaders flying abroad for medical treatment while ordinary citizens suffer from preventable and treatable diseases. Some stakeholders, including the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and human rights lawyer Femi Falana, have also called for a ban on government officials seeking medical treatment abroad, citing the need to prioritize Nigeria’s healthcare system.
