Mrs Adetuyibi said the hospital management rationed electricity to cushion the high power bill the institution was expected to meet monthly..The five-day industrial action by unions at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, which commenced on Monday, March 2 and ended on Friday, March 6 over rationed electricity supply and inadequate water availability, halted medical and related activities.
When Peoples Gazette visited the federal hospital in Ibadan on Thursday, the facility appeared deserted unlike its usual busy state. The wards and corridors were less populated and registration desks were either manned by interns or visibly empty.
The hospital’s gates, emergency services, intensive care unit, utility rooms, medical record rooms, kitchen, pharmacy departments and laboratories were partly or fully locked. In the wards, unlike in the past, patients and their relatives sat dozing off or lying on beds.
UCH’s Strike Background
The UCH, Ibadan, has a long-standing crisis regarding electricity supply for its operations. In March 2024, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) disconnected the hospital’s power supply over debt owed by the facility. Electricity was restored a month later in April. Later in October, IBEDC disconnected the hospital from the national grid due to accumulated debt.
In a November 2024 statement, the UCH spokesperson, Funmilayo Adetuyibi, stated that the hospital owed the electricity distribution company N392, 075, 161. To navigate the crisis, Mrs Adetuyibi stated that the hospital had “backup generators to power critical areas such as the emergency department, operating theatres, intensive care unit and laboratories.”
On January 22, 2025, College of Medicine students from the UCH and their counterparts from the main campus protested in Ibadan over a power outage crisis that had lasted for more than 82 days. In February, students besieged the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, during his visit to the hospital, protesting an electricity outage that spilled to over 100 days.
During the visit, Mr Adelabu promised to proffer a permanent solution to the outage and assured that IBEDC would reconnect the institution. But the minister’s promise didn’t yield much result. Last Monday, a committee of union leaders declared a five-day strike to protest the frustrating and deplorable working conditions that hospital workers and patients have endured.
Workers’ Multiple Concerns
The Council of UCH Union Leaders (CUUL) explained that its industrial action was embarked upon to draw the attention of relevant government authorities and the hospital management to the unbearable working challenges faced by staff and patients at the hospital.
The six unions which endorsed the strike were the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD-UCH), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), and the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI).
In a statement by CUUL, the council accused the hospital management of deliberately rationing power supply. It stated that the rationing crippled hospital activities and caused patients to suffer the consequence.
“Today, we regret to inform Nigerians that although power has been restored to UCH by IBEDC, electricity supplied to service delivery areas and the residential quarters is being internally rationed and restricted by management,” CUUL said at the commencement of the strike action. The group stated, “The deliberate withholding of power has crippled efficient service delivery, endangered patients, exposed staff to hazards, and undermined the integrity of one of Nigeria’s foremost tertiary hospitals.”
Stating the hospital’s predicaments, the council explained that “surgeries are cancelled routinely and theatre schedules are thrown into disarray; critical laboratory investigations results are not available to clinicians when needed; blood donors are bled under unconducive environment; diagnostic and life-saving equipment remain idle; while training of medical personnel has also suffered irreparable setbacks.”
The group explained that the current epileptic power supply created ‘a dangerous working environment,’ which forced health workers to operate under conditions that violate basic medical safety standards.
According to CUUL, such improper conditions include severe water shortages due to inability to pump water, increased risk of hospital-acquired infections, surgeries conducted with headlamps and nurses using mobile phone torchlights in wards.
The group identified other conditions as “laboratories handling hazardous and aerosol-generating samples without functional fume cupboards; exposure to toxic and carcinogenic fumes due to inactive extraction systems; staff on night duty left in darkness and security risks; with staff and patients’ relatives manually fetching water to upper floors.”
The group added that staff living in the hospital quarters paid additional charges for premium Band A electricity tariffs imposed by the (hospital) management, while barely enjoying an hour of electricity supply daily. It also accused the hospital management of arbitrarily billing residents in the quarters, levying rates between N10, 000 and N25, 000 monthly, without adequate supply or commensurate consumption of electricity service. The staff also claimed that the concerned authorities failed to replace faulty prepaid meters for over a year.
No Dialogue On Strike
The Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Wale Fatai, told the Peoples Gazette that the hospital management was unperturbed by the workers’ agitation for sufficient power supply in the hospital.
Mr Fatai said, “About three weeks ago, we sent an ultimatum under CUUL, stating that if power was not restored we would embark on a five-day warning strike. They only called us on the last day of the previous week only to beg us. By then, our members had lost patience. “UCH was a respected institution in Nigeria and globally in the 1970s. We want it to return to that glory. We are calling on the ministers of Power and Health, the Federal Government, and well-meaning Nigerians to intervene.”
Also commenting, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), UCH branch, Adedeji Uthman, told the Gazette that there was no dialogue between the aggrieved staff unions and the management over the pressing concerns throughout the strike duration.
Mr Adedeji stated, “Unfortunately, we have not heard any communication from the management, and it is very painful. It is quite unfortunate that the management would rather waste the cause of the strike and continue as though nothing has happened. We were left in limbo.” He hinted that the unions would hold a congress to determine their next course of action.
Patients Lament Strike Effects
At the hospital’s orthopedic ward, patients who spoke with the Gazette lamented the toll which the strikes have taken on them.
An eight-month-long patient at the facility who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed concern over the absence of doctors and nurses across the wards. He appealed to the federal government to show concern and address the health workers’ grievances.
“The strike really affected us. I have been here since July last year. We beg the management and the federal government to help resolve the matter,” the patient stated.
“The solar here goes off after an hour until the next day. The public power supply is often provided around 8pm to 10pm. You can imagine what would happen if electricity is not supplied during a surgical operation,” he said. Also commenting, an elderly mother who didn’t give her name but caring for her son with a critical fracture explained that the agitation of the health workers was consistent with the reality of patients
The woman said, “The recurring strike, particularly the prolonged one last year, caused a number of deaths among patients. Some of those deaths could have been prevented if doctors were not on strike. We beg the government to address the issue once and for all.
“Then they are answered, these health workers will be incentivized to take their jobs more seriously. Recurring strike in UCH is making some of us stay beyond the normal period we should use here. We the poor are the ones bearing the consequences of this fight,” she said.
The woman stated that the wards get dark every night, noting that the solar power in the ward barely lasted two hours. “There is honestly the challenge of water and power supply. When it is 8pm, everyone in this ward finds it difficult to see each other. And these two demands are very essential,” she stated.
"UCH Not Owing Us" - IBEDC
In a phone interview with the Gazette, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc (IBEDC) public relations officer, Daniel Adugbo, noted that the distribution company was not responsible for the power outage complaint by the aggrieved hospital unions.
Mr Adugbo clarified that the hospital did not owe the company. He suggested that the agitation might stem from an energy management tactic devised by the hospital management to meet its monthly obligation as a Band A user. He added, “What is going on is an internal issue. Technically, what the UCH management is doing is a situation that we call energy management. Because they are on band A. They are trying to manage their energy to meet their monthly obligation.
“They are not owing us. We are not having a situation like that and we have not disconnected them. However, internally, they are practising energy management; a situation where they try to consume as little energy as possible to meet their obligation at the end of the month.”
The spokesman urged the unions to engage UCH management and reach an understanding on how best to increase the hospital’s energy consumption and secure more federal funding assistance.
Contacted, the UCH spokesperson, Funmilayo Adetuyibi, dismissed the claim that the hospital did not engage the unions in the wake of the strike threats and that water was not available for use in the hospital.
“Before going on the strike, we had a meeting and we pleaded with them. We explained the situation on ground to them. We have had several meetings with them. They also made mention that there was no water at all in the hospital, that is not true,” Mrs Adetuyibi said. Acknowledging an instance when water was unavailable due to a technical fault, the hospital spokesperson stated that the management duly communicated the concerns across the staff social platforms.
“There was a period that we did not have water for like a week but this was communicated through WhatsApp to all the platforms. I’m so surprised that they are going on radio to tell Nigerians that they don’t know what happened,” she stated. She added that in October 2025, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde and the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Jesse Otegbayo, inspected the Dandaru Dam following complaints of low water flow to the hospital.
She claimed the visit secured the state government’s assurance to fix the faulty dam embankment supplying water to the hospital. Mrs Adetuyibi said the hospital management rationed electricity to cushion the high power bill the institution was expected to meet monthly.
“The electricity bill is always high. Since we were just resuming from the earlier ARD and JOHESU strikes, management felt that we should have five hours of supply; three hours in the morning and two hours at night. But during the three- hour supply, most of the workers are not always at home.
“Last Monday, the management gave an order that there will be six hours supply of electricity in the morning and another six hours in the night. We discovered on Tuesday that the supply cables had been stolen,” she stated.
Public reactions to UCH’s persistent crisis. The strikes and condition of service at the hospital became a concern for the public, with many berating the government and stakeholders for their inaction.
A medical student at the hospital with the name @to37867_toyyib on X tweeted that the strike disrupted the students’ academic calendar and clinical postings. The X user said, “The academic calendar has been disrupted. Clinical postings are temporarily on hold. Our training and our future as doctors is stalled. Unless something changes by Friday, this warning strike could escalate.
“I appeal to the Ministry of Health @Fmohnigeria and other concerned bodies. This is not a small matter. UCH is a national referral hospital. If it cannot function, the entire healthcare system feels it. Please step in, restore power and water.”
Another X user, @bin_gbada lamented the impact of the crisis, stating that his friend lost a two weeks old baby last Monday because of the strike.
“A friend of mine lost his two weeks old baby on Monday after an emergency. Him and his wife went to UCH & they were told they cannot admit the baby because “they don’t have light & they’re on strike”. This happened on Monday, March 2, 2026. This country tires me!!” the X user tweeted.
Also reacting, @ThisisTimmy_ tweeted, “See the low quality problems we are having in big 2026. Zero prioritisation, zero urgency, zero value for lives. Because if there’s someone at the top that has a full knowledge of what’s at stake, they will do something about it urgently. It’s tiring, it’s tiring!!!!”
Expressing a similar concern, @TeeMento tweeted, “I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that in 2026, Nigeria still can’t boast of steady electricity. A whole UCH Ibadan on strike and protesting for no light and water in this century? Is this intentional? Are our politicians deliberately neglecting the power sector, or is there something deeper going on? Why is it so difficult for Nigerian leaders to provide 24/7 electricity for the people? Why?”
Also commenting, an advocate for good governance, Omole Ibukun, stated that the reality at the UCH confirmed that Nigeria’s governance shortfall was not an abstract issue but a direct threat to human life. Mr Omole stated that the strike proved that appropriate authorities failed to preserve the right to life, which is a fundamental responsibility citizens should enjoy.
He noted, “A teaching hospital turning away patients because of electricity shortages is reminding us that infrastructure collapse across the country is now undermining even the most basic public services, and union strike in this context is better than an illusion of function.
“Reports that surgeries are being disrupted, laboratories cannot function properly, and vaccines or reagents are lost due to broken cold chains is exposing the fact that the Nigerian healthcare system is being forced to operate under dangerous conditions.
“The minister for power is from Oyo State and allegedly a candidate in the coming governorship elections in Oyo State yet failures in the electricity sector are hitting hard at the state, alongside the chronic underfunding of public health institutions by the Federal Government in which he serves.” “If nurses have to use phone torchlights and life-saving equipment are sitting idle because of power shortages, it means the Nigerian state is failing in one of its most fundamental responsibilities to citizens – which is to preserve their lives.
A public commentator, Francis Nwapa, described the basis for the strike as a “tragic but predictable outcome of decades of deliberate neglect of Nigeria’s public healthcare system by the ruling elite.” Mr Nwapa stated that the routine neglect of the health sector, evidenced by politicians’ habitual practise of travelling abroad for medical purposes, constituted “an administrative failure.”
He said, “The crisis at the University College Hospital is a tragic but predictable outcome of decades of deliberate neglect of Nigeria’s public healthcare system by the ruling elite. While political office holders and the wealthy routinely embark on medical tourism to Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, the hospitals meant for ordinary Nigerians are left to decay.
“It is an outrage that in 2026 a major teaching hospital is forced to cancel surgeries, conduct procedures with headlamps, and watch nurses use mobile phone torchlights in wards because electricity is being rationed. This is not simply administrative failure. It is the consequence of a political system that abandons working people to suffering while public resources are looted and diverted.”
Mr Nwapa called on the federal government to fully restore electricity and water supply to the hospital, as well as inject emergency investment funds into the public healthcare system..He also called on trade unions, civil society and the wider working class population to mobilise against the continued destruction of Nigeria’s healthcare system across the country.
“The legitimate grievances of health workers must be addressed and their working conditions protected. Health workers cannot be expected to save lives in darkness, without water, and under dangerous conditions. A society that abandons its hospitals abandons its people, and this must be resisted.”
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