Mirian Gom 
NACA Director-General, Temitope Ilori
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s investments during the COVID-19 pandemic have evolved into a powerful defence system against future disease outbreaks, with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) saying the country is now significantly better prepared to tackle emerging public health threats.
Ahead of a national close-out meeting on the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM) on Wednesday, NACA said the intervention, implemented between 2021 and 2025, had transformed emergency response systems, strengthened laboratory networks and improved disease surveillance capacities nationwide.
The agency noted that the investments have become permanent assets within Nigeria’s health system rather than temporary pandemic measures.
Director-General of NACA, Dr. Temitope Ilori, said lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic had fundamentally changed the country’s approach to health security.
“We learned through COVID-19 that being prepared for one emergency isn’t just about that emergency; it is about being prepared for any emergency,” Ilori said.
She explained that investments in supply chain resilience, emergency response systems and rapid deployment mechanisms had now been integrated into national health planning.
According to NACA, the C19RM intervention supported Nigeria in protecting essential HIV, tuberculosis and malaria services during the pandemic while simultaneously strengthening broader health system components.
Executive Secretary, Country Coordinating Mechanism Nigeria, Tajudeen Ibrahim, described the programme as a model for effective partnership and local ownership during health emergencies.
“These investments have strengthened critical health systems and facilitated pandemic preparedness capacities that will continue to benefit the country for years to come,” he said.
The meeting also featured partner presentations, policy discussions, stakeholder reflections and documentary presentations highlighting the intervention’s impact across communities.
About the Author
Oluwafunbi Bello