Chukwu Obinna 
NMA Chairman, Dr Babajide Saheed
LAGOS, Nigeria – A senior medical leader calls for a radical restructuring of Nigeria’s healthcare financing model, warning that chronic underinvestment in primary healthcare is driving system failure and worsening overcrowding in urban hospitals.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State branch, Dr Babajide Saheed, makes the call during an appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday.
Dr Saheed argues that primary healthcare facilities should receive between 60 and 70 per cent of health budgets at federal, state and local government levels, describing the current allocation pattern as fundamentally flawed.
“Primary healthcare is the foundation of any effective health system,” he says. “What we have in Nigeria is a reversal of priorities.”
According to the NMA chairman, successive governments continue to channel disproportionate resources into secondary and tertiary institutions while neglecting community-based health centres that serve as the first point of care.
“Any country that neglects primary healthcare is operating a failed health system,” Dr Saheed adds. “Unfortunately, that is the situation we face today.”
Using Lagos State as an example, he highlights the mismatch between infrastructure and population size. The state, with an estimated population exceeding 20 million, operates roughly 300 primary healthcare centres, a figure he describes as grossly inadequate.
“Even beyond the numbers, we must ask how many of these centres are properly staffed with doctors and functional equipment,” he says.
The intervention comes amid criticism of the Federal Government’s 2026 health budget, estimated at ₦2.48 trillion, representing about 4 per cent of total national expenditure.
The figure falls significantly short of the 15 per cent benchmark set by the 2001 Abuja Declaration, to which Nigeria is a signatory.
Medical professionals warn that continued underfunding will worsen health outcomes, accelerate medical tourism and deepen the exodus of Nigerian doctors to foreign health systems.
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Hussaini Ibrahim 
Edino Chubiyo Cornelius 
Koko Maxwella 
Otamere Gladness