The ongoing strike by members of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has disrupted key support services, with union members complying with the industrial action as management is yet to engage the workers.
When Nigerian Tribune visited the hospital, some sections, including parts of the Pharmacy Department, remained operational because the affected workers belong to other unions.
The outpatient clinics were open, but patients were experiencing difficulties accessing their medical case notes because records officers, who are members of NUAHP, were participating in the strike. The situation also affected the Dialysis Centre and other clinics where access to patients’ records was required for normal service delivery.
In addition, neither the hospital’s main nor eastern gate was shut, as the workers manning the gates belong to other unions. The clinics and service centres visited also had electricity and water.
Chairman of NUAHP, UCH chapter, Comrade Oladayo Olabampe, said the indefinite strike was over the alleged refusal of the hospital management to implement the decision of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare on the disciplinary case involving the Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Dr Adeyinka Ishola.
The union said the strike, which commenced at midnight on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, followed what it described as the failure of several attempts to resolve the dispute arising from the sale of a tricycle associated with the Pharmacy Department through dialogue, negotiations and ultimatums.
According to NUAHP, the vehicle was sold for N1.1 million after a departmental management meeting, while the proceeds were paid into the department’s account and subsequently used for various departmental needs.
The union maintained that an independent investigation by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare found Ishola not guilty of any fraudulent act but held him responsible for failing to carry UCH management along in the sale.
It said the ministry consequently recommended that the director be reprimanded and reinstated, rather than dismissed.
The union accused UCH management of refusing to implement the ministry’s decision several months after it was reached.
Olabampe said the union had issued two 15-day ultimatums and exhausted other avenues of engagement before declaring the industrial action.
He said the union was not opposed to discipline within the health sector but insisted that due process and the rule of law must be respected.
The union appealed to the Federal Government and other stakeholders to intervene in the dispute and prevail on UCH management to implement the ministry’s decision.
The strike, according to NUAHP, will continue indefinitely until its demands are met.
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