Nigeria’s health sector in 2025 recorded notable progress in infrastructure, emergency care, insurance expansion, and service utilisation.
Under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, the Federal Government commissioned oncology centres, expanded emergency services, improved immunisation coverage, and cleared several legacy arrears owed to health workers, signaling significant investment in healthcare reform.
In practice, 2025 was marked by repeated industrial actions, with several unions halting hospital operations, making labour disputes the defining feature of the year, even as reforms and infrastructure improvements continued across the country.
One of the most consequential disruptions came from the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which launched an indefinite nationwide strike on Nov. 1 over unresolved welfare and structural issues affecting federal health institutions.
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After 29 days of paralysis in tertiary hospitals, NARD suspended the strike following a series of conciliatory meetings with the Federal Government, signaling temporary resolution but leaving critical issues still unaddressed in hospitals.
NARD National President Dr Mohammad Suleiman announced the suspension on Nov. 29 after an extraordinary National Executive Council meeting, citing a Memorandum of Understanding that outlined the status of the association’s 19-point demands.
Suleiman explained that the suspension was conditional: “The NEC resolved to suspend the strike for four weeks to allow room for dialogue while ensuring follow-up on implementation of pending welfare and structural demands,” he said.
NAN