Posted on: Fri 14-08-2026

The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) has warned the Federal Government that it could embark on industrial action if outstanding salary and allowance demands are not resolved by August 31.

The association said its Emergency National Executive Council (E-NEC), at a meeting on August 5, extended its ultimatum by three weeks to give the government another opportunity to resolve the dispute.

Speaking with journalists at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL), Idi-Araba, Lagos, on Thursday, the Chairman of NAMDA-CMUL, Prof. Andrew Ugburo, said the extension followed years of negotiations with the government.

He said failure to reach an agreement by the deadline would trigger a three-day warning strike, which could disrupt medical education and the training of doctors and dentists nationwide.

“We have never gone on a national strike. We believe in negotiations and coming to an agreement with government.

“But we are now beginning to feel that maybe government is taking us for granted,” Ugburo said.

NAMDA represents medical and dental academics in Nigerian universities, tertiary health institutions and research institutions. The association has been pushing for improved remuneration, citing disparities between the pay of medical academics and similarly qualified doctors working in federal medical centres and teaching hospitals.

Ugburo said the disparity was contributing to an “internal brain drain”, as specialists increasingly opted for better-paying clinical positions or left the country altogether.

“After extensive training as a specialist, you have the option of either working in the hospital or working as a lecturer in the university. You will now find that the salary of a similarly qualified person in the teaching hospital is more than that of a medical and dental academic.

“What will happen is that it will lead to an internal brain drain,” he said.

He stressed that the responsibilities of medical lecturers extend beyond conventional classroom teaching, noting that they supervise students during clinical rotations and call duties while training them to manage patients and emergencies.

“A medical lecturer takes his students on call duty, teaches them on call duty. It’s not like other academics that close at 4 p.m. You have to take the students and teach them the skills to save lives,” Ugburo said.

 

Allowances remain unresolved

A major component of NAMDA’s demands is the formal government circularisation and implementation of allowances for medical and dental academics.

The association said some of the provisions were contained in agreements between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), but the absence of government circulars had prevented their full implementation for medical and dental academics.

Ugburo said the situation became more frustrating after ASUU reached an agreement with the Federal Government in December 2025, with some allowances subsequently implemented, while NAMDA’s demands remained unresolved.

He said an agreement reached between NAMDA and the Federal Government on February 18, 2026, had also yet to be fully implemented.

“We have been waiting for so many years, and we now have a government that finally we are able to get to sit down with us,” he said.

“But up to today, we go for meetings and we are told the chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission is out of the country.”

NAMDA said it had also sought the intervention of the Department of State Services (DSS) and other stakeholders, warning that prolonged inaction could have consequences for both medical education and healthcare delivery.

The association’s General Secretary at CMUL, Prof. Kehinde Okunade, said another congress would be held before August 25 to assess the level of government engagement and determine the next course of action.

“We are responsible. We want to see that we have exhausted every legal negotiating route before we take any action,” Okunade said.

 

Conference allowance

Among the outstanding demands is the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CARTA), which NAMDA said is necessary to enable lecturers to attend professional conferences and remain abreast of developments in their fields.

Ugburo said the rising cost of international professional conferences had made it increasingly difficult for academics to fund such activities from their salaries.

“For a plastic surgery conference, registration is 800 to 1,000 euros. After I attend such a conference, I pay for a hotel as well. Which work am I coming to do? What salary are you going to pay me?” he asked.

He warned that inadequate funding for professional development could undermine the quality of medical education.

“If as an academic I have not gone for a conference, I am only teaching you old knowledge that I gained 10 years ago. And that is dangerous for the university system,” he said.

NAMDA said it would continue negotiations with the government but warned that failure to resolve the issues by August 31 could lead first to a three-day warning strike and subsequently to an indefinite strike.

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