NAMDA Declares 3-Day Nationwide Warning Strike Over Unpaid Allowances and ‘Japa’ Crisis

Medical education across Nigerian universities faces imminent disruption as medical and dental lecturers under the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) have resolved to commence a three-day nationwide warning strike starting next Tuesday.

The decision was reached following a National Emergency Council meeting of the association, where 14 university branches voted to down tools across medical faculties nationwide. In an official statement signed by NAMDA National Secretary Professor Aniekan Peter, the academic body explained that the industrial action became unavoidable after the Federal Government repeatedly failed to conclude negotiations on their conditions of service and formally document payments under the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

The association listed severe outstanding financial grievances, including the non-payment of the Medical Clinical Academic Tools Allowance (MCATA), Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), Excess Workload Allowance, and Professorial Allowance. Prof. Peter expressed regret that despite the alarming exodus of medical personnel from the country—popularly known as the ‘Japa syndrome’ the government continues to neglect the welfare of the academics tasked with training the nation’s future doctors.

Describing the government’s ambition to mass-produce healthcare professionals without adequately compensating their teachers as contradictory and counterproductive, NAMDA declared that the shutdown will be total and comprehensive across all medical colleges. The association called on federal authorities to urgently return to the negotiating table before the warning action escalates into a full-blown crisis.