The Management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has rejected the Association of Resident Doctors’ (ARD) demand for free, on-call meals, stating that the request is not part of the Federal Government-approved conditions of service.
The Management, in a statement, emphasized that providing such meals violates a seven-year-old binding agreement with all staff unions, which opted for a subsidized, renovated cafeteria, which is currently operational.
LUTH Management urged the ARD to end their strike and resume work to avoid disrupting patient care, noting that all other unions are satisfied with the current arrangement.
Read the statement below:
LUTH MANAGEMENT CLARIFIES POSITION ON ARD DEMANDS: FREE MEALS DURING CALL HOURS NOT PART OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT–APPROVED CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
Lagos — The Management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), under the leadership of the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Wasiu Lanre Adeyemo, wishes to place on record its official position on the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), LUTH Chapter, and to clarify, for the benefit of the general public, patients, stakeholders and members of staff, the facts surrounding the union’s demands — particularly the demand for free meals during call hours and night duty.
Following two rounds of extensive engagement between the Chief Medical Director and the expanded Executive Committee of ARD LUTH since the commencement of the strike last Monday, Management considers it necessary to state as follows:
1. Free Meals During Call Hours Are NOT Part of the Federal Government–Approved Conditions of Service
Management wishes to state unequivocally that the provision of free meals to doctors on call or on night duty is not part of the conditions of service approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria for resident doctors or any other category of staff in federal tertiary health institutions.
LUTH, as a federal government-owned teaching hospital, operates strictly within the framework of the conditions of service approved by the Federal Government. Any demand that falls outside this approved framework cannot be unilaterally granted by the Management of a single institution, and certainly not at the expense of institutional stability or in violation of subsisting inter-union agreements.
2. A Binding Seven-Year Agreement Exists With All Unions — Including ARD
About seven years ago, the immediate past Management of LUTH reached a binding agreement with all the recognised unions in the hospital, including ARD LUTH, that the provision of free food to all categories of staff during call hours and night duty was neither realistic nor sustainable.
In place of free meals, it was collectively agreed that Management would provide a befitting cafeteria to serve staff on duty conveniently and affordably. This agreement remains in force, and Management cannot in good conscience breach a collective agreement in favour of a single union.
3. Granting the Demand to One Union Will Throw the Hospital Into Chaos
LUTH is home to multiple unions representing thousands of staff across clinical, nursing, technical, administrative and support cadres. Granting free meals to only one union will:
– Constitute a clear act of discrimination against every other category of staff;
– Trigger legitimate agitation and copycat industrial action across the hospital;
– Impose a recurring financial burden that the hospital cannot afford and cannot sustain.
Indeed, other unions are already watching developments closely, and some have begun to signal their own readiness to embark on industrial action should Management concede to demands outside the approved conditions of service.
4. Management Has Delivered the Long-Awaited Cafeteria
When the current Management assumed office three years ago, the cafeteria promised under the seven-year-old agreement had not been built, and all unions were understandably agitated. This Management sourced the required funds, completed the project, and commissioned the cafeteria in October 2025 with fanfare.
It is important to note that the Executive Committee of ARD LUTH was present at the commissioning ceremony, along with representatives of all other unions in the hospital.
5. Meals at the Cafeteria Are Subsidised and Monitored
To further ease the welfare of staff on duty, Management negotiated with the vendor operating the cafeteria to provide subsidised meals for LUTH staff. A monitoring committee was subsequently constituted to ensure compliance with the agreed pricing and quality standards.
The cafeteria is open and accessible to staff on call and on night duty. There is in fact an arrangement with the cafeteria to serve food on request to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, Lab scientists etc in the wards, theatres & laboratories to make the gesture more convenient.
6. Free Meals Are Already Provided Six Times a Year
In addition to the subsidised cafeteria arrangement, LUTH Management has maintained a consistent welfare tradition of providing free meals to all staff on call and on duty six times every year, on the following major public holidays:
1. Christmas Day
2. New Year Day
3. Easter
4. Eid-el-Fitr
5. Eid-el-Kabir
6. Independence Day (October 1st)
This gesture, entirely funded by the hospital as a welfare package and not as a contractual entitlement, has been consistently honoured throughout the three-year tenure of the current Management.
7. Accommodation for Resident Doctors Is Actively Being Renovated
On the demand relating to accommodation for resident doctors, Management wishes to inform the public that the residents’ quarters are currently undergoing renovation, and work has reached approximately 60 per cent completion. This is an ongoing project that predates the current industrial action and reflects Management’s commitment to the welfare of resident doctors.
8. All Other Unions Are Satisfied — Only ARD Is Aggrieved
It is a matter of public record that every other union in LUTH is satisfied with the current welfare arrangement — a functional, subsidised cafeteria complemented by six free-meal holidays annually. The Association of Resident Doctors is the sole union rejecting this arrangement.
Management finds it regrettable that a demand which falls outside the Federal Government–approved conditions of service, and which contradicts a collective agreement by all the unions, is now being pressed through industrial action that is disrupting patient care at a foremost national referral hospital.
APPEAL TO ARD LUTH
The Management of LUTH wishes to reassure the resident doctors, all staff, patients and the general public that its doors remain open for continued dialogue. However, Management cannot:
– Grant demands that fall outside the conditions of service approved by the Federal Government;
– Unilaterally breach a subsisting collective agreement entered into with all unions;
– Extend a privilege to one union that it cannot equitably and sustainably extend to all others.
We therefore appeal to the leadership of ARD LUTH to call off the ongoing strike in the interest of the vulnerable patients who depend on LUTH for critical, and often life-saving, medical care, and to return to the negotiating table in good faith.
Management remains fully committed to the welfare of every category of staff within the limits of available resources and the framework of the conditions of service approved by the Federal Government.
Signed:
Management
Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)
Idi-Araba, Lagos