Posted on: Tue 27-05-2025

In a long-overdue but deeply welcome development, the Federal Government is set to unveil three state-of-the-art cancer centres on May 29, 2025—marking what may be one of the most significant health investments in Nigeria’s recent history.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, delivered the news with justifiable pride, declaring this rollout as the first phase of a broader plan to establish ten cancer centres across the country. For a nation where cancer has quietly, cruelly claimed far too many lives in silence, this move feels not only timely—but transformative.

“This is the largest investment in cancer care Nigeria has ever seen,” Prof. Pate announced in a message shared on X. And he’s right. With the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) partnering in this initiative, Nigeria is finally beginning to match the scale of its cancer burden with an equally scaled response.

The new centres—located at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Nsukka, and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital—are expected to serve nearly 2,000 oncology patients and 350,000 diagnostic clients annually, while also training up to 500 clinicians over the next three years.

This isn’t just infrastructure. It’s hope made visible.

For decades, Nigerian cancer patients have faced the brutal choice between inadequate local treatment or prohibitively expensive medical tourism. Most, heartbreakingly, chose neither—they simply endured the pain, or were lost to it. These centres may very well mark the beginning of the end of that tragedy.

Even more commendable is the FG’s attempt to tackle not just the availability of care but also the crippling cost. A new N400,000 subsidy for radiotherapy treatment is already being implemented through the National Health Insurance Authority, targeting disadvantaged patients who often fall through the cracks.

And this is only the beginning. The government plans to roll out at least seven more world-class centres, complementing existing ones in Lagos, Abuja, and Sokoto. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, is pushing to make cancer care in Nigeria not only accessible but affordable and dignified.

But let’s be clear—this isn’t just about medical milestones. This is a moral obligation finally being honored. It’s about saving lives that were once written off. It’s about ensuring that a cancer diagnosis in Nigeria is no longer a death sentence based on your ZIP code or your bank balance.

If the promises become reality—and if these centres are properly staffed, funded, maintained, and made truly patient-centered—Nigeria may be turning a long-awaited corner in its healthcare journey.

As Prof. Pate rightly noted, this isn’t just about reversing outbound medical tourism. It’s about restoring faith in our own system, about proving that we can build a future where Nigerians can get world-class care at home.

A new era of cancer care may be dawning. The question now is: will the government sustain this momentum? Will these centres receive the operational excellence and transparency they deserve? And will the system ensure that no Nigerian is left behind simply because they are poor?

For now, May 29 should not just be a date marked by ribbon-cuttings and political speeches. It should be remembered as the day Nigeria finally began to take cancer seriously—not with pity, but with power, purpose, and policy.

Let’s hold our leaders to it.

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