Coalition says five-day warning strike inevitable as surgeries stall, revenue bleeds
ARD president, patient relative recount avoidable deaths, unsafe conditions
Olayinka Akinpelu & Sumbo Olaonipekun
Health workers at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, have commenced a five-day warning strike over what they describe as crippling internal electricity rationing and worsening water scarcity, despite the restoration of public power supply to the institution.
The industrial action, which began at 12.00 midnight on Monday, 2 March 2026, is being coordinated by the Council of UCH Union Leaders, a coalition of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Non-Academic Staff Union and Senior Staff Association of Universities (NASU), Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions.
In a press statement issued at the commencement of the strike, the unions jointly led by Co Chairman, CUUL & Chairman JAC-UCH, Comrade Oladayo Olabampe, and Co Chairman, CUUL & Chairman, ARD-UCH, Dr Uthman Adedeji, declared that “a teaching hospital in 2026 is being forced to operate like a facility from a bygone era”, warning that patient safety, training and research are under grave threat.
Warning strike follows breakdown in talks
The unions recalled that UCH was plunged into darkness for 102 days between 3 November 2024 and 12 February 2025 after disconnection by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company. Electricity was later restored following intervention by the Minister of Power and a resolution with the distribution company.
However, the coalition alleged that although supply has been restored to the hospital, electricity to service delivery areas and residential quarters is being internally rationed by management.
According to the unions, repeated engagements with hospital authorities failed to produce tangible results. A 14-day ultimatum issued under the umbrella of the Council of UCH Union Leaders expired without resolution, prompting the warning strike.
The Coalition directed all members to comply fully with the five-day action, scheduled to end at 11.59pm on Friday, 6 March 2026, while instructing staff on weekend duty prior to the strike to report as usual and document their presence.
The coalition maintained that the action was not politically motivated but aimed at restoring stable electricity and adequate water supply as “basic necessities for a safe, comfortable and enabling working environment”.
Patients, staff recount ordeal of darkness
The unions outlined wide-ranging consequences of the internal power restriction, including routine cancellation of surgeries, disrupted theatre schedules and unavailability of critical laboratory results.
They said medications, reagents and vaccines have been lost due to broken cold chains, while diagnostic and life-saving equipment remain idle. Blood donation sessions are reportedly conducted under unconducive conditions, and research and medical training have suffered setbacks.
Healthcare workers also described what they termed a dangerous working environment. They cited severe water shortages due to the inability to pump water, increased risk of hospital-acquired infections, and staff using headlamps and mobile phone torchlights during procedures and ward rounds.
Dr Uthman Adedeji, President of the Association of Resident Doctors at University College Hospital, Ibadan, said emergency surgeries have been delayed or referred elsewhere because of erratic power.
“We are seeing how Nigerians are dying avoidable deaths,” he said. “We have had patients who required emergency surgeries but we were unable to do that surgery because of power supply, so they turned to quacks.”
He added that some health Caregivers collapsed in theatre due to heat linked to power outages, while kidney patients have struggled to access dialysis. “We are not asking for money. We are asking for a better healthcare system for Oyo State and Nigerians who cannot afford to travel abroad,” he said.
A patient’s relative, Mr Adekunle Shuaib, described conditions in the wards as distressing. “You cannot flush the toilet, not to talk of bathing a patient. We have to buy sachet water to wash,” he said, urging government.
