The planned protest is linked to the failure of the Nigerian government to constitute the board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), a development which has reportedly delayed the signing and issuance of certificates to affected nursing graduates for more than three years.
Thousands of graduate nurses across Nigeria have concluded plans to embark on a nationwide protest on June 1, 2026, over the continued withholding of professional certificates and what organisers described as years of neglect within the country’s healthcare sector.
The planned protest is linked to the failure of the Nigerian government to constitute the board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), a development which has reportedly delayed the signing and issuance of certificates to affected nursing graduates for more than three years.
In a statement signed by Nurse Abdul-Azeez Olalekan, a nurse activist and South West Zonal Coordinator of the Elegant Nurses Forum (ENF), the organisers said the delay had negatively affected the careers and future of many young nurses across the country.
The statement noted that many qualified nurses had remained unemployed, lost job opportunities within and outside the country, and suffered stagnation because the NMCN continued to cite the absence of a board chairman as the reason certificates could not be signed.
