Members of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) staged a peaceful protest on Tuesday to express their frustration over the Federal Government's handling of their demands.

The demonstration followed an emergency congress held by the union to review the ongoing industrial action, which began on November 14, 2025. The protest comes amid a directive from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to stop the salaries of JOHESU members participating in the indefinite strike across federal health facilities nationwide.

Speaking to journalists, the Chairman of JOHESU-UITH, Mr. Oyelowo Olufemi, accused the Federal Government of being insensitive to the plight of health workers. He highlighted a long-standing grievance rooted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2009.

According to Olufemi, the 2009 agreement included a commitment to adjust and recognize two major salary structures: the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) for physicians and the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for other health workers.

He lamented that while the government has adjusted the CONMESS for physicians three times in 2014, 2017, and 2018 it has consistently refused to implement similar adjustments for JOHESU members on the CONHESS scale. The union maintains that this disparity is a breach of the original agreement and a slight to the health workers who form the backbone of federal medical institutions.

"That is the backbone of the strike actions, we are demanding that the government adjust CONHESS also.

"We are appealing to the Federal Government to wade in and see what is going on in the Ministry of Health. They should do what is right for the health sector," the union leader said.

Also speaking, Mr Saka Abdullahi, the Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes, and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRAI) alleged intimidation of members from the management of UITH.

He explained that the management was using the circular from a Communique issued by the Federal Ministry of Health to tell the Union that they don't have the right to picket or stop members from coming to work.

Abdullahi insisted that the management was using intimidation on members and the "No work, No Pay" policy directed by the Federal Ministry of Health to force their members to work.

"No work, no pay is not something that is very strange or new to us, but to use force to compel members to work is what we are kicking against.

"The Federal Government is not responding to the yearning of JOHESU for the past 12 years.

"This is the 13th year of agitation, the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) requested for nine demands and almost everything is met.

"While our own flagship demands is just CONHESS adjustment, which is unmet," Abdullahi lamented.

The union leader said that the salary earned by its members was hardly sufficient, due to the removal of subsidy and the exorbitant amount for transportation.

Responding to allegation of intimidation by management of UITH, the Acting Head, Corporate Affairs Unit of UITH, Mr Abiodun Fagbemi, debunked this.

He said that the management of UITH was well aware that the ongoing strike actions by JOHESU was not a local one, but national.

"There is nobody that is forced to appear at the hospital to work," Fagbemi said.

The members of the Union carried placards with the inscriptions; " No Compliance, No Compromise."

Others are, "Health Sector Can't Work Without JOHESU", and "Federal Government Should Stop Discrimination in Health Sector," among others.