In 2025 alone, LAUTECH medical personnel embark on four strikes. Now nurses have increased the number

Nurses and midwives at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, have joined a string of industrial actions that have rocked the institution this year, declaring an indefinite strike after the expiration of a fifteen-day ultimatum.

Their grievances mirror long-standing complaints in the hospital’s non-implementation of the new National Minimum Wage, unpaid promotion arrears stretching from 2018 to 2024, severe staff shortages, and the poor state of rest stations and offices.

The union said management ignored repeated reminders, leaving its members with little choice but to withdraw their services.

They warned that the strike could worsen access to healthcare in Oyo, Osun, Kwara and surrounding communities, as LAUTECH remains the only state-owned tertiary referral centre in Oyo State.

Pregnant women, children, accident victims and emergency cases are the most vulnerable in the event of prolonged disruption.

This action marks at least the fourth major strike by medical professionals at LAUTECH in 2025 alone. Resident doctors walked out in late July over unpaid allowances and stalled residency training support, paralysing key departments for weeks.

Lecturers in the medical school also suspended academic activities in August and September over unpaid arrears, while a broader wave of unrest in March affected state tertiary institutions, LAUTECH included.

Each strike has carried its own demands, but all converge on the same themes; delayed pay, ignored agreements, and poor working conditions.

The pattern is striking. Between 2021 and 2024, publicly documented disputes at LAUTECH were sporadic and less visible, but in 2025 four separate cadres of workers have staged high-impact strikes within months of one another.

This clustering suggests not coincidence but systemic neglect and a breakdown in labour relations. Nurses now add their weight to the unrest, signalling how widespread discontent has become within the hospital.

For staff, the costs are not only financial but professional. Attrition is rising as skilled personnel leave for more stable opportunities. For patients, the consequences are life-threatening.

Each stoppage forces delays in surgeries, diversions of emergency cases and cancellations of outpatient appointments. The teaching hospital’s credibility as a referral hub for the region hangs in the balance.

The union has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene directly to end the stalemate. They insist that industrial harmony is not a luxury but a prerequisite for quality healthcare delivery in the state.

Until their demands are met, nurses and midwives say their strike will continue, deepening the crisis that has already made 2025 one of the most turbulent years in LAUTECH’s medical history.

Read Also: LAUTECH Teaching Hospital on the Verge of Collapse as Doctors Embark on Indefinite Strike