The House of Representatives has called on Nigeria’s tertiary health institutions, particularly university teaching hospitals, to urgently refocus on medical research, warning that the sector’s continued neglect of research undermines national health security and preparedness for public health emergencies
The call was made on Tuesday during the 2025 budget defence session involving federal university teaching hospitals, federal teaching hospitals and federal medical centres.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Health Institutions, Patrick Umoh, expressed concern that most teaching hospitals have drifted from their statutory mandate as centres of medical research, innovation and specialist training, and are now functioning largely as general hospitals.
Umoh criticised Chief Medical Directors for allocating less than one per cent of their annual budgets to research, describing the figure as unacceptable for institutions meant to drive evidence-based medicine and policy.
“Teaching hospitals are supposed to be centres of research. Yet you have never raised the issue of research funding during budget preparations. Instead, you focus almost entirely on infrastructure. That makes you part of the problem,” he said.
He noted that Nigeria’s health system was exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the country relied heavily on external research and foreign solutions.
“The pandemic caught us all unprepared. Let me mock you a little by saying that traditional medicine practitioners appeared to be doing better. I have carried out several oversight visits, but no teaching hospital has ever taken me to a facility and said, ‘This is our research centre,’” Umoh added.
Teaching hospitals occupy a critical position in national health systems worldwide, serving as hubs for clinical research, disease surveillance, innovation and the training of health professionals.
In countries with resilient health systems, breakthroughs in diagnostics, vaccines and treatment protocols are often driven by sustained research activity within teaching hospitals.
In Nigeria, however, chronic underfunding, weak research infrastructure and limited political prioritisation have constrained the ability of teaching hospitals to fulfil this role.
As a result, the country remains heavily dependent on foreign research outputs, even for diseases prevalent within its borders.
Health experts have repeatedly warned that without deliberate investment in research, Nigeria risks being perpetually reactive to health crises, rather than proactive.
Responding on behalf of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors, the Secretary of the Committee and Chief Medical Director of the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Prof Pokop Bupwatda, acknowledged the poor funding of research but blamed systemic budgetary constraints.
According to him, although teaching hospitals make provisions for research, usually around one per cent of their budgets, these allocations are often removed during the final stages of the budgeting process.
Bupwatda appealed for increased overall funding for the health sector to enable adequate recruitment of skilled personnel and improved staff welfare, which he said are essential to curbing the growing “japa syndrome.”
He disclosed that many federal health institutions are severely understaffed, particularly with medical doctors, noting that even when recruitment approvals are granted, few doctors apply. Despite these challenges, he said existing personnel have continued to provide quality healthcare services and deserve recognition.
He also expressed concern that public discourse frequently highlights isolated failures in the sector while overlooking progress that has attracted foreign patients to Nigeria’s health facilities.
Bupwatda further lamented that only about 30 per cent of the 2025 budget allocation has so far been released to federal tertiary health institutions, despite interventions by the House of Representatives to improve funding levels.
He identified power supply as a major operational challenge, explaining that hospitals require uninterrupted electricity to run life-saving equipment and provide effective patient care.
He noted that most federal hospitals are currently on Band A electricity tariffs, significantly increasing their operating costs, alongside heavy spending on diesel for generators.
He welcomed proposals to deploy solar mini-grids in teaching hospitals and federal medical centres, describing the initiative as a critical intervention.
He further appealed to the committee to approve take-off grants for about seven newly established federal health institutions, warning that without such support, they would struggle to commence effective operations.
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