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By Muinat Usman
Doctors employed by the Kwara State Government have begun a seven-day warning strike over salary deductions and the non-implementation of the 2025 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS.
The Chairman of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, in Kwara State, Dr Adeola Olasinde, announced this while addressing journalists in Ilorin.
Dr Olasinde said the doctors were protesting a two per cent deduction from their September salaries for the Kwara Care Health Insurance Scheme and the failure to implement the new salary structure.
He said the strike, which affects state-owned hospitals, including the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, followed unsuccessful efforts to resolve the issues through dialogue.
The doctors are also demanding the recruitment of more medical personnel, payment of outstanding allowances and improved working conditions.
Dr Olasinde explained that patients on admission would continue to receive care, while unstable patients and new emergency cases would be referred to federal health institutions.
He appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to intervene and resolve the dispute, warning that failure to address the demands could lead to an indefinite strike.
The warning strike is expected to end on October 22, 2026.
In a reaction the Medical Director of Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (KWASUTH), Dr Ahmed Bola AbdulQadir, has appealed to striking doctors in Kwara State to return to work to prevent avoidable loss of lives.
Dr Abdulqodir made the appeal while reacting to the seven-day warning strike embarked upon by doctors over salary deductions and the non-implementation of the 2025 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).
He said the hospital was operating at full capacity, with critically ill patients in the wards and Intensive Care Unit, including women who had recently undergone surgery.
The Medical Director described the situation as unfortunate and urged the medical associations to resolve the dispute quickly in the interest of patients.
Dr Abdulqodir expressed confidence in the state government’s commitment to workers’ welfare, particularly those in the health sector, and appealed to the doctors to resume duty to ensure uninterrupted healthcare delivery.
Editing: Abdullah Ahmed
