Posted on: Wed 19-11-2025

The Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Bayelsa State chapter, has joined the ongoing nationwide strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), insisting on the immediate adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

 

Announcing the decision on Tuesday, the state Chairman of NUAHP, Fefegha Edwin, said the union was compelled to embark on the industrial action after years of unproductive negotiations with the federal government over CONHESS adjustments, which have remained stagnant since 2014.

 

Addressing members at the union’s secretariat, Edwin said allied health workers have continued to deliver essential services despite longstanding wage disparities. He lamented that, while the government had implemented three separate adjustments to the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), it had repeatedly failed to honour agreements on CONHESS.

 

According to him, the union remains committed to securing equitable remuneration, improved working conditions, and better service delivery across the health sector.

 

Also speaking, NUAHP’s National Public Relations Officer, Stanley Edumson, criticised the federal government for failing to uphold the terms of the negotiated salary structures, noting that both CONMESS and CONHESS were originally designed to be adjusted concurrently.

 

“Two salary structures were enacted, and a key provision in those agreements was that whenever there are adjustments, they must apply to both structures,” Edumson said. “But three times, one has been adjusted while the other — which affects us the most — has been completely ignored.”

 

Edumson expressed concern about the impact of the strike on patients, stressing that the union was left with no option after exhausting all avenues for dialogue.

 

“Whenever there’s a strike, the patients suffer the most. We are appealing to the government to honour that agreement, which is critical to the progress of the sector,” he added.

 

NUAHP said the strike will continue until the federal government takes concrete steps toward implementing the long-awaited adjustment of CONHESS.

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