A first-time visit to Nigeria left a young Nigerian-American nurse shocked and concerned about the state of the country’s healthcare system, highlighting long-standing gaps in public service delivery.
Chidera Ugwokeba, 24, whose parents hail from the South East but who was born and raised in the United States, shared her experience while traveling on an Air Peace flight from Owerri to Lagos. She had just graduated from nursing school and was visiting Nigeria with her parents for the first time.
During the flight, Ugwokeba recounted a harrowing experience involving her sister, who suffered a domestic accident while in Nigeria. The family rushed her sister to a government-owned hospital they were told was one of the best in the area. Shockingly, hospital staff insisted on payment before attending to her bleeding hand, showing little urgency despite the severity of the injury.
Ugwokeba revealed that even after paying, her sister had to procure all medical supplies herself, and blood tests were conducted on a single, non-sterilised machine used for multiple patients. Attempts to raise concerns were dismissed by hospital staff, leaving the family traumatized.
“According to my training, treatment should come first, payment later. Here it was completely reversed,” she said. She also reflected on the lack of ambulances in Nigeria, referencing the case of boxer Joshua, who could not be rushed to a nearby hospital due to infrastructural gaps.
Ugwokeba expressed a willingness to offer her medical skills for free and help raise funds to improve healthcare services in Nigeria.
Commenting on the issue, the flight’s passenger noted that Nigeria is not poor but poorly governed. Highlighting misallocated resources, he pointed out that a standard ambulance costs about ₦150 million ($100,000), yet the government spent ₦39 billion refurbishing the National Conference Centre and ₦21 billion on the Vice President’s residence—enough to fund hundreds of ambulances. Similarly, ₦300 billion spent on a presidential jet could have financed over 4,000 primary healthcare centres nationwide.
Peter Obi, former Labour Party presidential candidate, shared the nurse’s story on his X platform, using it to illustrate the country’s persistent governance and infrastructure challenges. Obi highlighted the misalignment between Nigeria’s available resources and the public services accessible to ordinary citizens, underscoring the urgent need for reform and accountability in the health sector.
The young nurse’s encounter underscores systemic challenges in Nigeria’s public healthcare and raises questions about governance, resource allocation, and priorities in the country.
