As the 21-day ultimatum it issued to the Federal Government draws to a close on July 23, the Nigerian Medical Association has warned it will ground medical services nationwide if the government fails to meet its demands.

Its President, Prof Bala Audu, who confirmed thison Sunday, noted that the association was prepared to take decisive action should the government fail to respond adequately to its demands.

Prof Audu stressed that the association’s demands were critical to the survival of Nigeria’s healthcare system and the welfare of medical professionals across the country.

The NMA had, on July 2, issued an ultimatum in protest against a circular from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission on revised allowances for medical and dental officers in the federal public service, which the doctors kicked against for violating prior agreements.

The association issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to withdraw the circular and meet its other demands to avert industrial action in the health sector.

“We have made our position clear. The ultimatum ends on July 23, and if the Federal Government does not address our demands, we may have no choice but to proceed with a strike,” he said.

According to him, the circular contains provisions that were not mutually agreed upon and which undermine the remuneration and welfare of medical professionals.

“We have rejected that circular outright. We expect that any new directive affecting our members should be the outcome of mutual consultation, not something imposed,” he stated.

Prof Audu disclosed that the NMA had been engaging with the Federal Government to avert a crisis.

“The last meeting happened two weeks ago and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate; the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako; the Permanent Secretary, the Director of Hospital Services, and the representative of minister of labour were at the meeting, and some affiliate of the NMA were present, and I was part of that meeting as well.

“However, he felt that we should go for a further meeting, and another meeting was slated for last week, unfortunately, in the week, we lost the former President Muhammadu Buhari, so the meeting couldn’t be held.

“However, the next meeting is supposed to happen between us, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, which issued a circular that we feel is obnoxious, and we have rejected it. We would also meet with the Ministry of Finance and representatives from the Ministry of Health,” he added.

The NMA president expressed concern that time was running out, adding that unless the meeting was held within the next few days, the association may be left with no other alternative but industrial action.

“We expect that after the funeral ceremonies, government stakeholders will reconvene with us, hopefully by Monday. Otherwise, the 21-day ultimatum still stands.

“If the government fails to prioritise this matter, a strike may be inevitable,” he added.

The Katsina State NMA branch, in a communique issued after its State Executive Council meeting, expressed “grave disappointment” and “unequivocal condemnation” over the circular.

The meeting, held in Katsina, on Saturday, noted that “NMA Katsina State branch hereby rejects National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission’s (NSIWC) circular (SWC/S/04/S.218/III/646) dated 27th June, 2025 on review of allowances for medical/dental officers in the federal public service and demands urgent government withdrawal action and fulfillment of all the demands.

”The communique, made available to newsmen on Sunday, was jointly signed by the Chairman, NMA Katsina, Dr Muhammadu Sani and Secretary, Dr Yahya Salisu.

The association warned that it could not guarantee non-disruption of health services if their demands were not met.

The Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), yesterday, inducted 70 pioneer graduates of its Department of Nursing Sciences into the nursing profession.

The induction ceremony was conducted by the Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), Alhaji Alhassan Ndagi, formally ushering the graduates into the noble healthcare profession.

This was even as the elated inductees, who began their academic journey in 2018 without accreditation for the programme, heaped praises on the Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Mbah, for the decisive action and strategic intervention, acknowledging that without the governor’s timely support and provision of the facilities necessary for accreditation, their dreams might have ended in frustration.

The Chairman of the occasion and Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Yomi Jaye, described the event as a celebration of vision, resilience, and political will.

He recounted how the students had been plunged into despair following years of delay due to the lack of accreditation until Mbah assumed office and swiftly ensured the programme met the standards required by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the NMCN.

He said: “At the beginning of this administration, we were saddled with the task of strengthening our nursing and medical education.

We carried out a baseline assessment of all the institutions and discovered there was no accreditation for 19 years. We approached the NUC and the Nursing Council.

The governor backed us with all the necessary resources, and we worked alongside the university day and night. They didn’t just accredit them, they also indexed the backlog.”

(AFP): Almost six million donkeys are slaughtered annually for Chinese medicine, with severe knock-on effects for African villagers who rely on the animals, a UK-based charity said on Thursday.

It is driven by an increase in China’s production of ejiao – a product marketed as a health supplement that uses collagen from donkey skins – which is a $6.8-billion industry, according to China-based research firm Qianzhan.

China, whose donkey population has plummeted from 11 million in 1992 to 1.5 million in 2023, has turned to Africa to meet its demand.

With donkey populations falling, the African Union issued a 15-year moratorium on donkey slaughter last year.

UK-based charity The Donkey Sanctuary said, “the ejiao industry drives a massive global trade in donkey skins, much of it illegal”.

It said around 5.9 million donkeys were killed worldwide last year.

The ejiao trade is expected to require at least 6.8 million donkey skins by 2027. The rising value of donkeys means they have increasingly become targets for criminals.