Setting Ogun primary healthcare records straight

By: Gbadamosi Adegoke

CHIMAMANDA Ngozi Adichie once warned about the danger of a single story—the idea that when we tell only one version of a narrative, it becomes the only lens through which reality is judged. That thought came to me as I read the recent The Punch Newspaper’s ‘Healthwise’ report titled “Stranded at Birth: How Ogun Border Community Lose Generations to Healthcare Failure”, published on August 17, 2025. It is a moving story, but presents half truths. Highlighting one painful account without acknowledging the breadth of reforms taking place in Ogun State’s health sector, especially at the primary healthcare level, paints a picture of total neglect rather than one of ongoing renewal. The truth is that when Governor Dapo Abiodun took office in 2019, the healthcare system he inherited was in disrepair. Primary Health Centres, which should be the first point of contact for communities, were in poor shape, most barely functioning. This was at odds with the original vision of Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti and his think-tank, who adopted Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in 52 local government areas as models based on Alma Ata Declaration of 1978, heralding the launch of Nigeria’s first comprehensive national health policy based on PHC in 1988. The policy was targeted at bringing care closer to ordinary Nigerians, especially women and children. Rather than abandoning the primary healthcare vision of the 1980s, as most successive administrations had done, the current government in Ogun State chose to revive it—deliberately and with a plan.

Yet it must also be said that the decline of PHCs was not peculiar to Ogun. Across Nigeria, after the early gains of Ransome-Kuti’s reforms, most PHCs began to suffer from neglect. Decades of underinvestment, poor coordination between federal, state, and local governments, and the exodus of trained health personnel left these centres as empty shells in many places. What was meant to be the backbone of Nigeria’s healthcare system became, in too many communities, nothing more than abandoned buildings with faded signs. This national decline is what Ogun State met in 2019, and it is against this backdrop that current reforms should be judged. Since then, numerous of PHCs across the State have been rehabilitated, equipped, and staffed, with many more in line for renovation. In Ipokia Local Government Area alone, where the Onigbedu community mentioned in the report is located, facilities such as Ajegunle PHC, Idiroko PHC, Tube PHC, and Ifoyintedo PHC have all received attention. The General Hospital at Idiroko, the LGA headquarters, has also been upgraded and continues to serve as a secondary referral point for the entire area. It is fair to say that all 20 Local Government Areas now have various PHCs undergoing renovation, equipping, and staffing as part of the Abiodun administration’s renewal drive. These are not isolated gestures but part of a wider, phased reform to strengthen healthcare delivery from the ground up. Beyond infrastructure, the State has introduced policies and programmes that speak to the everyday needs of its people. The Ibidero Programme is one such initiative. Through it, pregnant women who register at public health facilities receive free antenatal care, delivery—including Caesarean sections if required—and postnatal care, with a modest financial support provided after childbirth. It is a safety net designed to ensure no woman is left behind simply because she cannot afford to give birth safely. In addition, the State’s health insurance schemes—championed by this administration as a sustainable model of health financing—place strong emphasis on maternal and neonatal care.

Emergency care has also been transformed. In 2019, Ogun had only five basic ambulances. Today, there are 26 modern ambulances deployed across the State with 16 ambulance points operating round the clock, while rural communities are being supported with tricycle ambulances to bridge last-mile gaps. The State has further partnered with Emergency Response Africa to launch the Rural Maternal Health Emergency Transportation system, which connects women in remote areas to care through vouchers, community responders, and rapid transport. Together, these interventions have drastically cut down response times and are saving lives that would previously have been lost on the way to hospital.

At the national level, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda has also not left the health sector behind. His “Renewed Hope” blueprint recognises that Nigeria’s prosperity rests on the wellbeing of its citizens. In this light, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has been driving efforts to strengthen coordination across tiers of government while insisting that healthcare is local. His argument is simple: most Nigerians access care in their communities, not in Abuja or Lagos, and reforms must empower the PHCs and general hospitals nearest to the people, with special attention given to robust referral systems. Ogun State has identified strongly with this principle, aligning its PHC renewal, Ibidero maternal support, ambulance expansion programmes, and other initiatives with the larger national push for a more efficient, more responsive health system.   None of this is to suggest that gaps no longer exist. Healthcare delivery, particularly in border communities like Onigbedu, still faces challenges of geography, funding, and personnel. But to suggest that generations are being “lost” without reference to these investments is to tell only a single story. And as Adichie rightly argued, single stories flatten complex realities and deny people the dignity of being fully seen. Such reports, based on isolated cases like the Punch story, reflect the remnants of decades of neglect in Ogun’s healthcare system—neglect the current government has been actively addressing since 2019.

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It is therefore not sufficient to describe the story of Ogun healthcare today as that of despair, but of a difficult but steady rebuilding. There are renovated PHCs where none existed a few years ago; solar-powered delivery rooms, ambulance services that reach border villages, maternal health programmes that guarantee free and safe deliveries, and a general hospital in Idiroko that serves as a hub for the area.

To erase these efforts from the narrative is to misrepresent not just government policy but the lived reality of many residents who now access services that were once out of reach.

As journalists, policymakers, and citizens, we owe ourselves the responsibility of telling fuller stories. One woman’s tragedy should never be ignored, but neither should the larger picture of systemic reform. In Ogun State, the healthcare story is not finished—but it is certainly not the single story of failure portrayed in that headline.

•Adegoke writes in from Abeokuta, Ogun State.