The Federal Government has moved to make health insurance compulsory across Nigeria in a bid to ease the crushing weight of out-of-pocket payments, which account for 74% of the Country’s total healthcare spending.
Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said the move was designed to pool risks, protect households from medical poverty, and channel new investments into a system long starved of sustainable financing.
Speaking at a National Health Financing Dialogue held in Abuja last week, Thursday, he stressed that the success of Nigeria’s healthcare system depends on coordinated funding mechanisms that mobilise, pool, and equitably allocate resources.
“Insurance is critical in giving Nigerians access to the health care they need when they need it,” he said, noting that reforms must translate into investments that reach clinics, households, and communities.
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Edun added that States had “doubled the kind of funds they had before” following tough fiscal measures such as subsidy removal, positioning them to make stronger contributions to healthcare financing.
Nigeria currently spends 74% of its health expenditure privately, with the public sector and donors contributing 14.4% and 11.6% respectively.
This imbalance, according to the Minister, underscores the urgency of building a robust pre-paid system that can spread risk and reduce dependence on household spending.
President Bola Tinubu had directed that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) implement mandatory health insurance schemes, a move he described as “a great start” toward ensuring coverage is not optional but operational.
Beyond insurance, the government is tying healthcare financing to economic reforms.
“The removal of fuel subsidies, previously draining 2.5% of GDP, has freed resources for investments in health, education, and infrastructure.
“At the same time, comprehensive tax reforms, digitisation of social safety nets, and structural changes in energy, logistics and education are being deployed to restore fiscal stability and attract private capital.
“These steps are essential to building a competitive economy capable of sustaining public health investment”, he noted.
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Edun pointed out that Nigeria has already begun to see improvements at the primary healthcare level, with more practitioners being trained and better management structures in place.
He disclosed that the Government is also expanding specialised facilities such as radiology and oncology centres, aiming to reduce outbound medical tourism while creating opportunities to attract foreign patients and foreign exchange.
“The more of those facilities that run in Nigeria, the less people will need to spend other foreign exchange and time to go abroad,” he said.
He further noted that global funding cuts, such as the World Health Organisation’s 40% budget reduction, had also forced Nigeria to recalibrate domestic spending.
“We want the clinic at the corner to be the first stop, not the last bus stop,” Edun said.
