A young Nigerian-American nurse has raised concerns over Nigeria’s healthcare system after witnessing inadequate medical care during her first visit to the country.
As reported by Vanguard, Chidera Ugwokeba, 24, whose parents are from the South East but who was born and raised in the United States, recounted her experience 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.
Ugwokeba said her sister suffered a domestic accident and was rushed to a government hospital described as one of the best in the area.
However, hospital staff reportedly refused to attend to the bleeding injury until payment was made.
Even after paying, the family had to provide all medical supplies themselves, and blood tests were conducted on a single, non-sterilised machine used for multiple patients.
Attempts to raise concerns were reportedly dismissed by hospital staff.
“According to my training, treatment should come first, payment later. Here it was completely reversed,” she said, noting the lack of ambulances and referencing the case of boxer Joshua, who could not be rushed to a hospital due to infrastructural gaps.
She expressed willingness to offer her medical skills for free and help raise funds to improve healthcare services in Nigeria.
Reacting to Ugwokeba’s experience, Peter Obi, former Labour Party presidential candidate, said the story highlights Nigeria’s governance challenges.
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.
Obi added that ₦300 billion spent on a presidential jet could have financed over 4,000 primary healthcare centres nationwide.
He stressed the mismatch between Nigeria’s available resources and the public services accessible to ordinary citizens, calling for urgent reforms and accountability in the health sector.
