President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Friday, commissioned new and upgraded health infrastructure across all six geopolitical zones of the country, marking the largest single-day commissioning of federal health investments in Nigeria’s history.
The events form part of the nationwide commissioning programme marking the third anniversary of his administration.
The President inaugurated the newly completed Bola Tinubu Specialist Complex at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja—a two-storey facility purpose-built for integrated specialist and VIP healthcare. It comprises eight consulting rooms, twin theatre suites, dedicated Ophthalmology and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) departments, a fully equipped laboratory, a pharmacy, nine VIP wards, four general wards, and a Private and VIP Clinic.
At the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare headquarters, the President also flagged off the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) Emergency Response Fleet — the largest single-day deployment of emergency medical transport in the country’s history.
The fleet comprises 145 tricycle ambulances, six boat ambulances, and 79 brand-new emergency ambulances for federal tertiary hospitals, along with 45 laptops, 20 printers, and 320 mobile phones to support the digital coordination platform. The fleet will operate under the SAVEMAMA programme to deliver emergency obstetric and newborn care services to underserved communities, including riverine, rural, and hard-to-reach areas.
The President later flagged off a fleet of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered ambulances for all 73 federal tertiary health facilities in the country at a ceremony held along the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos. Delivered under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and empanelled by NEMSAS, the CNG ambulances will significantly lower fuel costs for federal tertiary facilities, reduce emissions and strengthen the referral architecture linking secondary and tertiary hospitals.
In the North-West, three state Polio Emergency Operations Centres (PEOCs) — in Katsina, Kano and Sokoto — were commissioned. Originally established in 2013 with support from the Gates Foundation and managed since inception by eHealth Africa, the three Centres have been expanded, renovated and re-equipped to strengthen each state’s coordination of immunisation, disease surveillance and outbreak response. The Kano PEOC is housed at the Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Nassarawa, the Katsina PEOC at the SPHCDA premises, Murtala Muhammed Way, and the Sokoto PEOC at the Epidemiology Unit of the Specialist Hospital, Sultan Abubakar Road.
Also in Kano, the President commissioned the newly constructed Gadon Kaya Primary Health Centre in the Gwale Local Government Area. The facility was built under the Immunisation Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) Project. This World Bank-supported intervention has revitalised nearly 3,000 primary health centres across the country over the last two years. In the South-South, the Aboh Primary Health Centre in the Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State was also commissioned under the same IMPACT programme.
The President further commissioned three tertiary hospital projects: the new two-storey Laboratory Complex at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Akwa Ibom State — housing 16 dedicated laboratories, seminar rooms, a library, call rooms and staff offices; the new Administrative Complex at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State — inaugurated through a hybrid virtual ceremony; and the new Pharmacy Quality Control Laboratory at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Zaria, Kaduna State — which provides regulatory-grade quality assurance for every medicine entering the hospital, operating through Microbiology, Chemistry and Instrumentation units in full compliance with British Pharmacopoeia and United States.