By Ojoma Akor
The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated two high-level ministerial committees to address long-standing industrial disputes in the health sector.
This includes excessive work hours for health workers, locum engagement practices, and the contentious issue of residency training certification and re-categorisation.
The committees were inaugurated in Abuja by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, who said the intervention was part of the government’s broader efforts to reform the healthcare system, protect the welfare of health workers, and ensure patient safety.
Dr. Salako said the issues being addressed have repeatedly strained relations between the government and health-sector unions, noting that prolonged work hours, uneven locum engagement practices, and certification concerns for resident doctors have remained flashpoints for industrial action.
According to him, the first committee — the Ministerial Committee on Work Hour Regulation and Locum Engagement Policy — was constituted to address concerns about the exhaustion of duty schedules and the inconsistent engagement of health workers as locum officers across public hospitals.
The minister said that excessive work hours pose risks not only to the mental and physical well-being of health workers but also to patient safety, especially against the backdrop of a global shortage of health personnel.
He cited World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the global health workforce gap could reach 11 million by 2030, with Nigeria particularly affected by the migration of professionals to Europe, North America, and other developed economies.
He said the Federal Government has, in the last 21 months, adopted several measures to strengthen the health workforce, including the Health Workforce Migration Policy, easing bureaucratic bottlenecks to employment, improving remuneration, and expanding training quotas.
Dr Salako disclosed that 14,444 health workers were employed in 2024, and 23,059 in 2025, with over 70 per cent being clinical staff.
Despite these efforts, Salako acknowledged that locum engagement of health workers as a stopgap measure has been inconsistently applied and, in some cases, abused, necessitating a clear national policy framework.
He explained that the committee is mandated to conduct a nationwide audit of work hours and shift patterns, assess their impact on patient outcomes and workers’ wellbeing, engage stakeholders, and develop a national policy on safe hospital work hours, rostering, and locum engagement, including maximum duty hours, rest periods, and transition pathways from locum to permanent employment. It is expected to submit its first report within 12 weeks.
Dr. Salako assured health workers and stakeholders that the recommendations of the committees would receive urgent government attention and form part of a “new deal” for health professionals, aimed at reducing industrial unrest and strengthening healthcare delivery nationwide.
The Director of Hospital Services chairs the committee at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and includes representatives from regulatory bodies, hospital management, health unions, and professional associations.
The second committee — the Appraisal Committee on Certification and Re-categorisation Policy — is tasked with reviewing complaints by resident doctors over the non-issuance and recategorisation of membership certificates by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN).
The minister said the committee would conduct a transparent appraisal of existing policies and the requests by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), particularly on the issuance of membership certificates after passing Part I examinations. The committee, chaired by Professor Muhammad Raji Mahmud, Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Abuja, is expected to submit its recommendations within eight weeks.
In their acceptance speeches, the chairpersons of both committees pledged diligence, empathy, and fairness in carrying out their assignments.
The Director, Hospital Services Department, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Abisola Adegoke, chair of the Work Hour Regulation and Locum Engagement Committee, said the panel would put “a human face” on its work, drawing on the life experiences of overworked resident doctors.
Professor Mahmud, CMD NHA, assured that the certification review process would be guided strictly by principles of justice and equity across the profession.
