Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A coalition of nurses at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, has raised the alarm over worsening welfare and safety conditions at the federal health institution, alleging that newly employed nurses have not been paid for two months and that staff are being forced to ask patients to provide their own examination gloves due to a critical shortage of personal protective equipment. The Elegant Nurses Forum (ENF) voiced these concerns in a press statement signed by its National Coordinator, Nurse Thomas Abiodun Olamide, on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, painting a troubling picture of a healthcare facility where staff welfare, infection prevention, and basic sanitation have allegedly collapsed.
According to the Forum, several nurses employed this year have not received their salaries for two months, with the hospital management yet to officially explain the reason for the delay. In its statement, the ENF called on journalists to seek clarification from the hospital's Chief Medical Director to ensure all sides of the matter are fairly presented, expressing hope that the management would respond promptly and transparently to the concerns.
Beyond salary delays, the Forum also claimed that the affected nurses have not received the uniform allowance routinely paid to nurses in many other federal health institutions. It further noted "salary disparities" between nurses at FMC Abeokuta and their counterparts in similar federal hospitals, suggesting that workers might be receiving less than what they are legitimately entitled to under existing remuneration structures. The ENF argued that such discrepancies not only demoralise staff but also contribute to the exodus of experienced nurses from the facility.
The most alarming revelation, however, concerns the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly examination gloves, in some hospital wards. According to the Forum, nurses have complained that gloves are frequently unavailable, leaving healthcare workers with no option but to request patients to provide examination gloves before any medical procedure can be carried out. The statement added that when additional gloves become necessary during treatment, some nurses reportedly face verbal abuse from frustrated patients who expect the hospital, not patients themselves, to provide such essential consumables. "This situation, if true, represents a serious management failure," the Forum stated. "No healthcare worker should be forced to choose between providing safe patient care and exposing themselves to avoidable occupational hazards. Likewise, no patient should be expected to supply materials required for their own treatment."
The ENF further detailed the poor sanitary conditions within some hospital wards, particularly leaking toilet facilities. According to the statement, flushing some toilets causes water mixed with faecal waste to overflow onto ward floors because of faulty plumbing systems and inadequate maintenance. The Forum warned that such conditions are unacceptable in a healthcare facility and significantly increase the risk of environmental contamination and healthcare-associated infections. It also claimed that some cleaning personnel have complained of inadequate access to cleaning materials and protective equipment, including disinfectants, detergents, gloves, and other supplies needed to maintain proper hygiene standards within the hospital.
The nursing group stressed that hospitals should be environments where infections are prevented and lives protected, not places where healthcare workers and patients are exposed to additional health risks because of inadequate infrastructure and shortages of basic medical supplies. "A healthcare institution cannot effectively deliver quality care without adequate staffing support, timely payment of workers, sufficient protective equipment, proper sanitation, and regular maintenance of its facilities," they added.
The Forum has called on the management of FMC Abeokuta and the Federal Ministry of Health to urgently investigate the complaints and, where the allegations are substantiated, take immediate corrective action. Among its demands are the immediate payment of all outstanding salaries owed to affected nurses; prompt payment of legitimate allowances, including uniform allowance where applicable; a transparent review of alleged salary disparities; immediate provision of adequate examination gloves, PPE, and other essential medical consumables across all wards; urgent repairs to leaking toilets and defective sanitary facilities; adequate supply of cleaning materials and protective equipment for environmental staff; a comprehensive review of the hospital's infection prevention and control measures; protection of staff members from victimisation for raising workplace safety concerns; and improved waste disposal systems, including the provision of appropriate waste bins.
The Forum maintained that the welfare of healthcare workers and patient safety are inseparable, warning that unsafe working conditions and inadequate welfare ultimately compromise the quality of healthcare delivery. It urged the management of FMC Abeokuta to address the concerns transparently and engage constructively with staff, insisting that Nigerians deserve healthcare facilities capable of delivering safe, quality care while healthcare professionals deserve workplaces that protect their safety, dignity, and ability to perform their life-saving duties.
As of the time of this report, the management of FMC Abeokuta had not issued an official response to the allegations. However, the concerns raised by the Elegant Nurses Forum come at a time when the federal government is grappling with a broader crisis in the health sector, marked by a mass exodus of healthcare workers, persistent wage disputes, and chronic underfunding of public health institutions. For the nurses at FMC Abeokuta, the question remains whether their cries for help will be heard—or whether they will be forced to join the growing number of health professionals leaving the country in search of better working conditions abroad.
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