As the world commemorates World Malaria Day 2025, Nigerian advocacy group #EndMalariaInNigeria has issued a powerful indictment of the nation’s political elite, accusing them of sabotaging the fight against malaria through their relentless reliance on foreign medical care.
In a statement released Friday by the group’s convener, Francis Nwapa, the organization slammed decades of political neglect and misplaced priorities, describing Nigeria’s health system as “an abandoned battleground in the war against malaria.”
> “Medical tourism by Nigeria’s leaders is not just an insult to the suffering masses — it is a betrayal of the nation’s fight for survival,” Nwapa declared.
The group said the persistent exodus of politicians and public officials to hospitals in the UK, Germany, Dubai, and India signals a lack of faith in Nigeria’s health sector — and worse, diverts attention and resources away from building sustainable, world-class healthcare infrastructure at home.
Foreign Aid, Missed Opportunities, and Empty Commitments
#EndMalariaInNigeria also took aim at the lingering impact of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of malaria-related aid to Africa — a move which, according to the group, merely exposed deeper issues within Nigeria’s healthcare governance.
“Foreign aid has long been mismanaged in Nigeria. Its withdrawal should have been a wake-up call — not a death knell,” said Nwapa. “This is the time for innovation, for Nigeria to rise and own its healthcare destiny.”
The group cited the neglected Nigeria Vaccine Production Centre in Yaba, Lagos — once a hub for producing vaccines for smallpox, yellow fever, and rabies — as a painful symbol of lost potential. Shut down in 1991, the centre still lies dormant, despite having the infrastructure that could be repurposed for malaria vaccine production.
Launched with much fanfare in 1998 by international organizations including the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP, the Roll Back Malaria Initiative was supposed to mark a turning point. Instead, #EndMalariaInNigeria labeled it a “multi-billion naira failure”, arguing that the initiative has yielded few tangible results in Nigeria despite heavy donor funding.
Similarly, the establishment of the End Malaria Council — first by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 and later re-inaugurated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2024 — has come under fire. The group criticized the appointment of billionaire Aliko Dangote to head the council, questioning the absence of public health experts on the leadership team.
> “We cannot win a war against a health crisis by turning it into a business venture,” the statement said. “We need scientists, environmentalists, and doctors — not businessmen.”
Echoing recent warnings by the World Health Organization, the group emphasized how poverty remains a breeding ground for malaria. According to WHO, children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa’s poorest households are five times more likely to contract the disease than those in wealthier families.
In Nigeria, where inflation and unemployment are pushing millions deeper into poverty, access to mosquito nets, clean water, and proper drainage systems remains scarce. The group called on the government to prioritize infrastructure development, including:
Functional primary healthcare centres
Environmental sanitation campaigns
Modern drainage systems
Uninterrupted power supply
Affordable housing with screened windows
They also urged more funding for research, vaccine development, and public health education, especially in rural and underserved areas.
A National Emergency in Disguise
Despite decades of effort, Nigeria continues to record over 100 million malaria cases annually, with the disease responsible for:
30% of all childhood deaths
25% of deaths in children under one
11% of maternal deaths
“These figures are not just statistics — they are mass casualties in a silent war,” said Nwapa. “We need to declare a state of emergency on malaria, and we need to do it now.”
The group concluded with a call to action for Nigerian citizens and leaders to abandon dependency on international aid and embrace homegrown solutions rooted in environmental health, sustainable development, and healthcare sovereignty.
> “Until our leaders stop flying abroad for treatment and start fixing the hospitals at home, Nigeria will remain a malaria graveyard instead of a malaria-free nation,” Nwapa said.
In contrast, countries like Mauritius, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Seychelles have already been declared malaria-free by the WHO — proof, according to #EndMalariaInNigeria, that political will and strategic investment can eradicate the disease.
PIONEER NEWS 