Health
Updated: Independence Anniversary: Tinubu promises stronger primary healthcare for poor Nigerians
President Bola Tinubu has promised to strengthen primary healthcare services for poorer Nigerians as part of his administration’s efforts to reduce poverty and improve living conditions.
Mr Tinubu, in a televised address marking the country’s 66th Independence Anniversary, said his administration would work with state and local governments to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education, and other essential public services poorer Nigerians depend on.
“That is why, working with our states and local governments, we will continue to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education, and the essential public services poorer Nigerians depend on most,” he said.
The promise comes against the backdrop of persistent challenges in Nigeria’s primary healthcare system, with recent assessments and PREMIUM TIMES investigations documenting shortages of health workers, poor infrastructure, inadequate equipment and gaps in basic utilities at several facilities.
PHCs face staffing, infrastructure gaps
A recent assessment of 1,480 primary healthcare centres across 16 states found that 97 per cent of the facilities failed to meet the national minimum staffing requirement.
The assessment, conducted between October 2023 and June 2025 by Orodata Science and Civic Tech, covered 277 local government areas across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Only three per cent of the facilities assessed met the national minimum staffing requirement, while 11 of the 16 states had no assessed PHC that met the standard.
The assessment also found that 40 per cent of the facilities had broken ceilings or leaking roofs, while 38 per cent operated without electricity.
Another 39 per cent relied on unsafe water sources, while 75 per cent lacked essential neonatal resuscitation equipment.
About 75 per cent of the PHCs assessed were located in rural communities, where such facilities often serve as the first, and sometimes only, formal source of healthcare for residents, the report said.
PREMIUM TIMES’ recent investigation into rural PHCs in Osun State also found that challenges persisted at some facilities despite government spending and interventions aimed at revitalising primary healthcare.
The investigation across three PHCs found problems including deteriorating infrastructure, inadequate staffing, limited equipment and gaps in essential services.
Increase in PHC financing
The federal government has, however, reported increased funding for primary healthcare under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
In June, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, said N339 billion had been disbursed to states through the BHCPF since its establishment in 2014, with N235 billion of the amount disbursed in the three years of the Tinubu administration.
Mr Pate said the increased funding reflected intensified investment in primary healthcare and had helped expand access to essential health services.
He said more than 8,000 PHCs across the 36 states were receiving funding through the BHCPF gateways, while assessments were underway to increase the number of supported facilities to 17,600 nationwide.
The government has also launched the Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Programme (HOPE-PHC), a $570 million programme designed to strengthen primary healthcare as part of a wider human capital development and poverty-reduction initiative.
The link between healthcare and poverty reduction
In his address, Mr Tinubu acknowledged that millions of Nigerians still struggle to meet basic needs, including healthcare costs.
“I am also conscious that millions of our fellow citizens cannot wait for tomorrow. Some Nigerian families still struggle today for the next meal, the next school fee, the next medical bill, or simply enough money to get to work,” he said.
ALSO READ: FG approves N32 billion for BHCPF to strengthen primary healthcare services
He said the difficulties facing vulnerable Nigerians were not created by the economic reforms of the last three years but were the accumulated consequences of decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient opportunities and institutions that had often failed those who needed them most.
Mr Tinubu said his administration could not erase in four years problems that had accumulated over generations but could change their course.
“We can build an economy that steadily lifts people out of poverty while ensuring that those who remain vulnerable are not abandoned along the way,” he said.
He said the government was strengthening direct support for poor households and improving the National Social Register so that assistance reaches those who genuinely need it.
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The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has confirmed that the Ebola virus detected in Nigeria is highly similar to the virus identified in Kenya’s first imported case.
Mr Pate disclosed this on Friday during a briefing at the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja, saying genomic sequencing showed that the viruses differed by only one mutation.
He said the analysis was conducted by sequencing teams at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the Institute of Genomics and Global Health at Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, with the team led by virologist Christian Happi.
However, he cautioned that the finding does not establish how the Nigerian first case acquired the infection.
“Based on the genomic analysis, there is no evidence of travel of that index case in Kenya that links it to Nigeria, but the viruses are appearing to be related,” he said.
He added that the finding could change the understanding of the route of transmission as further investigations and testing continue.
Kenya has so far recorded nine confirmed Ebola cases caused by Bundibugyo virus, including one death, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Eight of the cases were linked to the country’s first imported case from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including four healthcare workers.
Africa CDC probes link
The genomic finding came on the same day the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said it is investigating a possible connection between Nigeria’s case and Kenya’s first imported case.
The agency said both patients had travelled through Entebbe International Airport in Uganda on 3 October, prompting investigations into whether they had shared equipment or had other contact. Africa CDC, however, stressed that no connection had been established between the infections.
The Kenyan patient travelled from the DRC through Uganda before arriving in Nairobi. He later died, becoming the first recorded Ebola death in Kenya’s current outbreak.
The Nigerian patient also passed through Uganda, but Ugandan authorities had earlier rejected suggestions that this established the country as the source of her infection.
Uganda denies active case
On 21 October, Uganda’s Ministry of Health said it had no confirmed active Ebola case and that the Nigerian patient’s transit through the country did not establish that she contracted the virus there.
The ministry said preliminary information indicated that the Nigerian woman had travelled to eastern DRC for business and passed through Uganda in early October without showing symptoms. It said the location of her exposure remained under investigation.
The new genomic finding now provides evidence of similarity between the Nigerian and Kenyan infections, although Nigerian authorities have not established that the patient was infected in Kenya.
One confirmed case
Mr Pate said Nigeria still has only one confirmed Ebola case and that authorities were continuing contact tracing, quarantine and additional testing of contacts.
Some tests have returned negative results, while others are pending, he said.
He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant but calm, saying there is no need for panic.
“We will continue to work diligently to ensure that we contain this virus as much as possible, and that we avoid a situation that spills over to the communities,” he said.
READ ALSO: Ebola: Atiku demands details of FG’s N10bn emergency fund
The minister said the government is also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in health facilities and would train health workers on how to identify and manage suspected cases.
He urged hospitals to notify public health authorities of suspected cases and encouraged Nigerians to observe basic preventive measures, including regular handwashing and hygiene.
Mr Pate also said Ebola is not currently known to be transmitted through the air but through close contact with infected body fluids.
He urged Nigerians to rely on information from public health authorities, including the NCDC, Federal Ministry of Health, World Health Organisation and Africa CDC, rather than unverified information on social media.
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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has assured the public that patients’ personal information will remain confidential during ongoing Ebola containment operations, as authorities work to trace people who may have been exposed to the disease.
Wessam Mankoula, an epidemiologist and the agency’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, gave the assurance during a virtual press briefing on Thursday. He explained that patients’ information was shared only with authorised investigators conducting contact tracing.
He said the information would not be disclosed publicly, emphasising the importance of protecting patients’ privacy during outbreak investigations.
The assurance follows the Nigerian government’s confirmation on Tuesday of an Ebola case in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The patient, a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda, is receiving medical care in isolation at a private hospital in the FCT.
Contact tracing
Mr Mankoula said Nigeria’s National Reference Laboratory confirmed that the imported case involved the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
He said 44 high-risk contacts had been identified, and the government was working to identify others who might have been exposed.
Contact tracing involves identifying and monitoring people who may have been in contact with an infected person, so possible infections can be detected early and further transmission limited.
Mr Mankoula also said investigators were examining a possible link between the Nigerian case and a case in Kenya. Both individuals had travelled through Entebbe International Airport in Uganda on 3 October.
He stressed that a connection remained under investigation and had not been established.
READ ALSO: Ebola: FG orders strict screening at Nigeria’s entry points
Regional response
Mr Mankoula said Africa CDC was working with partners, including the WHO, to strengthen disease surveillance and support preparedness measures. These included providing testing supplies at border areas near the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Nigeria’s case comes amid an Ebola outbreak in the DRC involving the Bundibugyo virus.
According to figures attributed to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the DRC had recorded 9,552 confirmed cases and 4,602 related deaths as of 19 October, based on data up to 18 October.
The outbreak has affected 66 of the country’s 178 health zones across eight provinces, with Ituri the most affected province.
These developments have heightened concerns about Ebola’s cross-border spread and the need for countries to strengthen surveillance, laboratory testing and coordination to identify suspected cases promptly.
Africa CDC continues to work with national health authorities and international partners to support outbreak response efforts and limit further transmission.
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