By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
In a bid to quash the unending strikes by doctors and other healthcare workers, the federal government has set up two ministerial committees to address frequently mentioned issues such as long working hours by doctors, unclear working conditions and locum engagement practices, residency training certification, and related issues.
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 health workers’ welfare, and ensure patient safety.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Salako said that the issues being addressed have repeatedly strained relations between government and health sector unions, noting that prolonged work hours, uneven locum engagement practices, and certification concerns for resident doctors have remained a bane of industrial actions in the health sector.
According to him, the first committee—the Ministerial Committee on Work Hour Regulation and Locum Engagement Policy—was constituted to respond to concerns over exhausting duty schedules and inconsistent engagement of health workers as locum officers across public hospitals.
He noted that excessive work hours drain not only the mental and physical well-being of health workers but also affect patient safety, amid a global shortage of health personnel.
He cited World Health Organization 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.
Dr. Salako disclosed that in the past 21 months, the Federal Government has adopted several measures to strengthen the health workforce in the areas of health workforce migration policy, easing bureaucratic bottlenecks to employment, improving remuneration, and expanding training quotas.
Additionally, 14,444 health workers were employed in 2024, while 23,059 employments were approved in 2025, with over 70 percent being clinical staff, the minister stated.
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.
To kickstart, the
committee would conduct a nationwide audit of work hours and shift patterns, assess their impact on patient outcomes and workers’ well-being, 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.
However, Dr. Salako has 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 committee is chaired by the Director of Hospital Services 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 Recategorization Policy—is tasked with reviewing complaints by resident doctors over the non-issuance and recategorization of membership certificates by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN).
The Minister also promised that 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 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” to its work, drawing from the life experiences of overworked resident doctors.
While Professor Mahmud, CMD NHA, assured that the certification review process would be guided strictly by principles of justice and equity across the profession.
The Director of Regulatory and Professional Schools
Division (Hospital Services Department)
FMoHSW, Dame Francisca Okafor, commended the Minister for initiating a critical step toward restoring harmony, dignity, and stability in Nigeria’s health sector.
End
