The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) has given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to resolve long-standing concerns over salaries, allowances, and staff welfare or face an indefinite nationwide strike.
The association announced the deadline on Tuesday following its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, stating that it expects the government to conclude negotiations within the stipulated period.
Speaking after the meeting, NAMDA President, Dr. Nosa Orhue, said the union had spent more than 24 months engaging the government through dialogue without any meaningful progress. He warned that if the issues remain unresolved after the 21-day period, the NEC would reconvene to determine the union’s next course of action.
Orhue said the association was disappointed that negotiations on the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement had remained stalled since 9 April despite several meetings with government officials.
He noted that while other university unions had benefited from improved welfare packages, NAMDA members had been excluded. According to him, this has resulted in the non-payment of earned academic and professorial allowances and has further exacerbated the brain drain affecting medical academics in Nigeria.
The NAMDA President explained that the dispute is primarily driven by salary disparities between university-based medical lecturers and hospital consultants who perform equivalent professional duties.
He said medical academics combine teaching, research, and clinical practice—including treating patients, performing surgeries, and undertaking hospital administrative responsibilities—yet earn less than hospital consultants despite possessing the same professional qualifications and practising licences.
Orhue said the Federal Government had previously acknowledged the unique role of medical academics by placing them on the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS). He added that the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, had supported salary parity and communicated that position to the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.
However, he alleged that some government agencies were frustrating the implementation of the agreement.
According to Orhue, CONMESS remains the only acceptable salary structure for medical and dental academics. He warned that any attempt to replace it with another salary structure could trigger industrial action.
He also rejected what he described as the forced migration of members aged over 65 from CONMESS to the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS), arguing that the move amounts to a demotion and results in financial losses for affected academics.
Orhue added that the association is demanding the implementation of special pension benefits for retired hospital-based academics and is also opposing the National Universities Commission’s requirement for medical academics to obtain PhD qualifications.
Despite the ongoing dispute, Orhue commended President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its efforts to improve university education. He also praised Dr. Tunji Alausa for supporting salary parity for medical academics.
