Future of healthcare: When Prof. Ugboaja spoke on potentials of Nigeria’s MoU with Brazil

By Umehaa Emezie Ikenna

When the Chief Medical Director of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Professor Joseph Ugboaja, appeared on CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch West Africa, he brought with him a message of optimism and clarity about the future of Nigeria’s healthcare system. His reflections centered on the recently signed Nigeria–Brazil Five-Year Action Plan for Healthcare, an agreement he believes could be a turning point for the country’s health sector.

Professor Ugboaja described the partnership as “a welcome development”, stressing its potential to reshape Nigeria’s medical landscape through knowledge exchange, advanced research, and specialized training programs. Beyond the technical benefits, he underlined a broader economic implication: the MoU could gradually transform Nigerian federal hospitals into credible alternatives to outbound medical tourism.

Every year, thousands of Nigerians travel abroad for medical treatment, spending billions of naira in the process. This, according to Prof. Ugboaja, is a drain not just on the nation’s finances but also on confidence in the local healthcare system. The Nigeria–Brazil collaboration, however, presents a chance to reverse that trend. “This partnership can help grow medical tourism within Nigeria,” he explained. “The funds we lose to foreign hospitals can be retained here, boosting our economy while strengthening the health system.”

At the heart of this vision are the federal tertiary hospitals — a network of institutions that includes federal teaching hospitals, federal medical centers, and specialist medical centers. Prof. Ugboaja described them as the “frontline drivers” of the MoU, pointing to their threefold mandate of clinical services, research, and training. It is through these pillars, he argued, that Nigeria can deliver higher-quality care to its citizens while building the capacity of its health workforce.

Drawing from his leadership at NAUTH, Prof. Ugboaja emphasized how infrastructural expansion and human capacity development at the hospital mirror the broader changes sweeping across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. He highlighted NAUTH’s strategic alignment of its nine institutional pillars with the four strategic pillars of the Federal Ministry of Health — a move that ensures the hospital’s growth contributes directly to the federal government’s larger reform agenda.

This reform agenda is encapsulated in the Nigerian Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), which Prof. Ugboaja described as the cornerstone of today’s healthcare transformation. Under the guidance of Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, and the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NHSRII is driving both infrastructural renewal and workforce development across the country. For Prof. Ugboaja, the initiative is not just about building hospitals but about creating systems of care that are sustainable, collaborative, and responsive to the needs of Nigerians.

“These reforms are not isolated projects,” he observed. “They are deliberate, structured steps to strengthen the healthcare delivery system and restore Nigerians’ confidence in the public hospitals.”

Looking ahead, Prof. Ugboaja believes the Nigeria–Brazil MoU, combined with the NHSRII, has the potential to establish Nigeria as a genuine hub for medical tourism in Africa. By retaining healthcare spending within the country and offering world-class services, federal hospitals can both improve national health outcomes and contribute to economic growth.

Closing his remarks, the CMD tied this vision to the core mandate of the government. “The ultimate goal is affordable, quality healthcare for every Nigerian,” he said. “This is at the heart of President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda and the direction in which the Ministry of Health is firmly steering us. With collaboration, investment, and commitment, we can build a healthcare system that not only serves Nigerians at home but also attracts patients from abroad.”

Umehaa Emezie Ikenna is
S.A. to the CMD of NAUTH on Strategic Communication