Healthcare experts and clinicians have renewed calls for far-reaching reforms in Nigeria’s health sector following the death of Nkanu Nnamdi, son of author Chimamanda Adichie, at a hospital in Lagos.
The incident has reignited a national debate on patient safety, accountability and the absence of effective oversight in healthcare delivery across the country.
The experts, who spoke with reporters on Tuesday in Abuja, said the tragedy underscored the urgent need for comprehensive reforms to prevent avoidable deaths and restore public confidence in the health system.
They noted that the growing convergence of views among healthcare professionals, legal experts and policy advocates reflected the urgency of overhauling Nigeria’s healthcare regulatory architecture.
Dr Richardson Ajayi, founder of Bridge Clinic Fertility Centre, Abuja, stressed the need to strengthen healthcare institutions through robust systems and regulation.
“While healthcare depends on the dedication of doctors and other professionals, patient safety ultimately rests on the strength of the systems that support them.
“To build real trust, we need clear standards, transparent oversight and continuous improvement, without blaming those on the front line,” he said.
Ajayi called for the establishment of a National Health Facilities Regulatory Agency to set and enforce minimum standards, accredit healthcare facilities and strengthen the quality of care nationwide.
He urged the public to await the outcome of official investigations into Adichie’s case, adding that her account of the circumstances surrounding her son’s death was deeply troubling and highlighted long-standing systemic failures.
“Healthcare operates in a life-and-death environment where market forces alone cannot guarantee safe, equitable and affordable care.
“Regulation is essential to define standards, protect patients’ rights, safeguard data and coordinate responses to public health emergencies,” he said.
Also speaking, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr Olisa Agbakoba, warned that Nigeria’s healthcare system was failing patients due to weak oversight and enforcement.
He called for the immediate creation of an independent Health Regulatory Authority and the reinstatement of Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) at federal and state levels.
“The fundamental problem underlying these tragedies is the complete failure of the legal and regulatory framework governing Nigeria’s health sector,” Agbakoba said.
He added that preventable deaths would persist unless oversight mechanisms were urgently restored.
Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in medical malpractice litigation, Agbakoba said Nigeria once operated a functional supervisory system anchored by CMOs and health inspectors, but that the structure had collapsed under the current legal framework.
“Today, under the National Health Act and state health laws, there are no routine inspections, no systematic reporting and no effective enforcement of professional standards,” he said.
He criticized the current arrangement in which Ministers and Commissioners of Health oversee both policy and regulation, describing it as a “fundamental governance failure.”
Agbakoba called for a clear separation between policy formulation and regulatory enforcement, adding that his law firm was currently handling 25 medical negligence cases.
According to him, the Adichie incident represents only a fraction of a wider systemic crisis in the health sector.
Meanwhile, Mr Jide Falaki, Senior Vice-President, Finance and Treasurer at McKesson, United States, raised concerns about the appropriate structure for health regulation in Nigeria, given the country’s federal system.
Falaki noted that healthcare is on the concurrent legislative list, with states constitutionally responsible for regulating healthcare delivery within their territories, a factor that must be carefully considered in designing any national regulatory framework.
Similarly, Dr Ndayi Amdii, a consultant gynaecologist and fertility clinician at Bridge Clinic Fertility Centre, said consistent and timely regulation of healthcare facilities in Nigeria was long overdue.
“Though in Adichie’s case there appears to be more than meets the eye, I speak from experience, having also been at the receiving end of Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system,” Amdii said.
He stressed that stronger regulation was not optional but fundamental to patient safety.
“Regulation is not only an imperative; it is as basic as the air we breathe,” he said.
