Over the last 20 years, Nigeria has received major support from the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and Malaria. These funds have also helped to strengthen the country’s health system through a program called Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH).
This support has made it easier for people to get life-saving treatments, boosted efforts to prevent these diseases, and improved health services across the country. But managing these grants is complicated, and changes in global aid funding—like a recent U.S. policy on foreign aid—show that Nigeria needs to take more control, improve oversight, and better use its resources.
As global health priorities shift, Nigerian health leaders—including members of the Nigeria Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), government ministries, lawmakers, and other partners—gathered in Lagos for a three-day retreat in 2025.
This retreat aims to review how CCM Nigeria operates and to make it stronger. The event will also welcome new CCM members and help improve how donor funds are managed.
The 70th CCM general meeting is a regular event. It encourages teamwork between different sectors and ensures everyone is working towards common goals. Organizers said that better cooperation with lawmakers has improved oversight and helped get more support for the Global Fund’s work.
As Nigeria carries out the Global Fund’s latest Grant Cycle 7 (GC7), this retreat comes at a key time. It gives everyone a chance to check what has been achieved so far, improve strategies, and prepare for future health needs.
Hon. Amobi Godwin Ogah, who chairs the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria, called for more openness and accountability in how Global Fund money is managed. He also said Parliament should be more involved in the process. This is the first time lawmakers have been invited to a CCM retreat.
Ogah praised the invitation of lawmakers, saying it will help Parliament and CCM work better together. He said Parliament should monitor how the funds are used and ensure they make a real difference in fighting diseases.
He expressed concern that in the past, some groups receiving Global Fund money couldn’t be traced, and weren’t held accountable. He said Parliament often faced resistance when trying to monitor these funds and called for CCM to open up its operations.
Ogah also talked about larger problems in health funding. He warned that Nigeria relies too much on foreign aid. He supported earlier efforts by his committee to push for more domestic funding and welcomed the government’s recent allocation of \$200 million to health, following cuts in U.S. support for Africa.
He criticized malaria and HIV program managers for being uncooperative and slow to respond to lawmakers’ concerns—like the call for a national check on fake anti-malaria drugs. On the other hand, he praised TB stakeholders for working well with Parliament. He mentioned progress on a new anti-discrimination bill for TB patients.
Ogah said his committee is ready to work with everyone to make Nigeria’s health system stronger. But he stressed that all health agencies must follow the rules and be transparent about how they use funds.
“This is not just about spending money. Health is not just a donor issue—it’s our responsibility,” Ogah said. “We can’t keep underfunding vital programs and call ourselves responsible leaders.”
He ended by calling for Parliament to have a seat on the CCM Nigeria board. This, he said, would help improve communication and make the system more transparent.
Mr. Ayo Ipinmonye, the First Vice-Chair of CCM Nigeria, said the retreat marks the beginning of a new era where the Nigerian government takes more ownership of health financing. A key part of this shift is a plan to better organize and align all health funding so that every Naira counts.
He noted that Nigeria’s allocation from the Global Fund has dropped by 11%, from \$970 million to \$860 million. This shows the need for stronger partnerships among government, lawmakers, civil society, and communities. More importantly, everyone—from national to local levels—must be held accountable. He also urged the media to help by watching and reporting how funds are used.
Second Vice-Chair Dr. Akinwunmi Fajola added that while Nigeria has made big progress in fighting HIV, malaria, and TB, that progress is still fragile without steady local funding. For example, HIV cases have dropped from 5.8% to 1.3%, malaria from 42% to 22%, and TB detection now exceeds 400,000 cases per year.
Even with this progress, Nigeria still spends only around 4–4.8% of its budget on health—far below the 15% agreed upon in the Abuja Declaration. “We can’t depend on foreign donors forever,” Fajola warned. “Even CCM won’t function well without enough government support.”
Dr. Emperor Ubochioma from the Global Fund’s TB team warned that Nigeria’s TB program is at serious risk due to a 70% funding gap. If the country doesn’t invest between \$700 million and \$1 billion each year, free diagnosis and treatment could collapse.
“The world is watching Nigeria’s TB response,” he said. “If we want to maintain credibility, Nigeria must take the lead. States also need to step up—the federal government can’t do it alone.”
Dr. Temitope Ilori, head of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), said the funding problems are not just a crisis—they’re also an opportunity. She believes these challenges can push Nigeria to build a locally driven HIV response with better leadership and innovation.
CCM Nigeria’s Executive Secretary, Ibrahim Tajudeen, stressed the need for stronger collaboration between all parts of government and the national assembly. He said the main goal of the retreat is to close funding gaps and improve how Global Fund money is used to fight HIV, TB, and malaria.
He said that although there’s been progress—like lower HIV and malaria rates and better TB detection—Nigeria risks losing these gains if it keeps depending on donors without investing enough locally.
Tajudeen said the retreat aims to raise more local funding, improve how grants are used, and make sure health funds are released on time. He asked lawmakers to support higher health budgets, faster funding, and better monitoring to avoid delays.
He said that transparency is central to CCM’s work and that there is already equal representation and ethical leadership in place. This, he believes, answers concerns raised by lawmakers. The retreat is expected to end with a plan for helping Nigeria move from donor dependence to a self-funded health system—cutting out-of-pocket costs and preparing better for future health threats.
