Welcome to today’s roundup of Nigerian newspaper headlines, accompanied by our advocacy-focused calls for government action on pressing issues that impact citizens.

1. The Guardian: NARD insists on 01 November strike, claims health workers owed N38 billion in two years

We begin with The Guardian, which reports that the Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has declared that there is no going back on its planned nationwide strike from midnight to 01 November, 2025, except the government reinstates its members that were unjustly dismissed, pays some of the arrears of allowances being owed and restores the value of membership certificates.

Our Take: It is baffling how the ministries of Health, Finance, and Labour can stay so calm while the nation’s doctors are running on empty wallets. President Tinubu must step in and make his government settle the NARD dispute once and for all, no committees, no memos, just payment. If this administration truly wants to curb brain drain, it should start by ensuring doctors don’t have to choose between saving lives and saving themselves.

2. Punch: Insecurity: Tinubu presses new service chiefs for immediate action

President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, held his first closed-door meeting with the newly appointed service chiefs at the State House, Abuja, charging them to raise the bar in the fight against insurgency.

Our Take: New uniforms, new titles, same old security crisis? Nigerians have seen this movie too many times. The new service chiefs must understand that citizens are not clapping for convoys or camouflage; citizens want results, not rehearsals. The time for strategy meetings is over, let the sound we hear next be peace, not gunfire.

3. Vanguard: Era of endless court battles over, says INEC chairman, Amupitan

Vanguard reports that the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), has vowed to dismantle the culture of excessive pre-election litigations that has long plagued Nigeria’s democracy.

Our Take: Prof. Amupitan’s pledge to end courtroom elections sounds good, almost too good. Nigerians will be watching, not with law degrees but with sharp eyes, to see if this promise leaves the bench and enters the polling booth.