Forgotten Patients: Abandoned Healthcare Projects Leave Thousands Suffering in Northeastern Nigeria 

Fatima Musa, a mother of three, has battled a painful ailment for months in Yarimari, a small community in the Potiskum Local Government Area in  Yobe, North East Nigeria.  Her recovery depends on receiving sound medical treatment at the government-owned Musa Lawan Primary Healthcare Centre, which is just a stone’s throw from her home. 

When she arrived at the facility, a different reality embraced her as she couldn’t find any available bed to be admitted to. She eventually found herself a space on the clinic’s bare floor after nurses refused to attend to her.

Hadiza Musa, a relative who accompanied Fatima to the health centre, told HumAngle that she couldn’t hold back her tears watching her sister rolling on the floor in deep pain. “I tried speaking to one of the nurses, but she said there’s nothing she can do; we just had to wait,” she said. 

The trends of poor access to healthcare services, abandoned structures, and inadequate staff and equipment have subjected many communities in northeastern Nigeria to devastating decay, amid decade-long insurgency. 

In Yobe, one of the states gravely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, poor healthcare services have aggravated locals’ plights due to incessant failure in the implementation of health facility projects. The insurgency has disrupted health service delivery, particularly for pregnant women, newborns, and children. 

Also, cases of official neglect and malfeasance by public officeholders in handling health facilities have been documented for decades, but the scourge continues in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

The federal government, for instance, included two projects in its 2023 budget to complete the construction and equipping of a primary healthcare centre in the Arikime ward of Yobe. The second project sought to complete the construction and equipping of the primary healthcare centre at Tudun Wada/Yari-Maram, Potiskum, in the same state. 

The two projects would gulp ₦170 million and  ₦130 million, respectively, as nominated by the federal lawmaker(s) representing the Yobe South at the National Assembly and enlisted in the Federal Government’s Consolidated Capital Project, otherwise known as the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP). The project was under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, formerly the Federal Ministry of Health.

Awarded to MS Kaita Integrated Services Ltd and MS Maiwada Global Concepts Ltd, the intended benefits of the projects included improved access to maternal and child health services, vaccinations, and treatment for common illnesses. For a community with limited healthcare access, these centres were envisioned as crucial lifelines for thousands of residents. 

Locals in the communities of the supposed projects have complained heavily about the abandonment of the health centres, urging authorities to come to their aid. Fatima is not the only patient who had a terrible experience at the Musa Lawan Public Health Centre. Many locals have similar encounters, as women and children continue to cram the facility with health challenges, commonly typhoid and malaria.

Amina Umar, 30, a caregiver, who spoke to HumAngle in October 2024, described her experience at the health facility as a series of frustrating events. She had watched her sick sister lay on the floor helplessly waiting for the doctor. “There were so many people hovering around, and I kept thinking about how unprepared the facility was to handle such a high number of patients, and also looking at how they have few doctors and little number of beds,” she complained.

Aside from the disturbing thoughts, Amina became concerned about her sister’s health. “She was already weak, and lying on the cold floor worsened her condition. The moment she started shivering, I was just praying and, deep down, imagining how the situation could have been different if the health centre had been properly equipped,” she said. “We deserve better.”

The challenges related to poor service delivery at PHCs in Yobe are not limited to  Musa Lawan Primary Healthcare Centre alone. Locals in the Arikime community of the Potiskum area also lamented how the lack of equipment and professionals became a thorn in their path to healthcare services at Yindiskie PHC. 

Zainab Yahaya, 29, is expecting her first baby. She arrived at Yindiskie PHC with high hopes of receiving good treatment, but everything changed in a short period. 

“It was in the morning when I came to the hospital; it was around 11:20 a.m. I was worried about my baby and how the conditions might affect us both, as I continued to feel terrible pains, which I believed was labour. Unfortunately, there was no equipment as simple as a bed for them to admit me on, talk more of a doctor to attend to me; I was so scared and vulnerable at that moment,” Zainab recalled.

Despite the devastating encounter, Zainab had to endure all the suffering, as there was no other health facility nearby. She struggled alongside her family members with the support of a nurse to deliver her baby.

Non-existent projects?

Nearly two years after the hospital projects were commissioned, the facilities have not seen the light of the day, leaving residents frustrated and anxious. Ibrahim Suleiman,  a senior official at the Musa Lawan PHC, told HumAngle that the delays have severely strained their resources.

“We often face overcrowding, which leads to limited attention for patients,” Ibrahim lamented, recalling a recent case of a woman who came with complications during labour. They had to manage her on the floor because no beds were available. 

At Yindiski PHC in Arikime, the facility lacks the necessary equipment and space, so they can’t offer comprehensive maternal and child health services. When HumAngle interacted with locals in various communities, we realised that many didn’t know about the projects that should be launched to improve their health facilities. Their lack of knowledge made it difficult for them to hold public officials in charge accountable.

Musa Garba, a community leader from Yarimaram, told HumAngle that he often hears about budgets and plans, but no standard infrastructures are erected in his community. “It’s tough to see our people suffering without proper care,” he said.

Aisha Nura, another leader from the Arikime ward, was excited about the new healthcare centre in their area, but the excitement has faded away. Something that leaves her worrying even more is that many families don’t even know what’s going on with these projects.

According to the GovSpend, a digital platform tracking federal government spending in Nigeria, a total of ₦59,018,218.47 was paid to M/S Kaita Integrated Services Ltd on August 16, 2023, for the construction and equipping of the Primary Healthcare Centre at the Yarimaram area. Additionally, ₦8,476,020.74 was paid to the Federal Inland Revenue as taxes related to this payment on November 27, 2023.

GovSpend indicates that ₦13,172,735.71 was paid on November 27, 2023, as taxes for MS Maiwada Global Concepts Ltd. This amount was part of a 30% second settlement from a total payment of ₦91,721,270.87 made on May 26, 2023, to complete the Primary Health Centre in the Arikime area.

HumAngle’s findings revealed that Maiwada Global Concepts Limited, incorporated in Abuja, Nigeria, was registered on Sept. 8, 2015, with its office located at No. 6, Nun Street, Off Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja. The company’s current status on the CAC portal is inactive, indicating that it has not filed its annual returns, raising concerns about its operational transparency.

Similarly, Kaita Integrated Services Limited was registered in Nigeria on Aug. 28, 2015, with Registration Number 1284124. Its office is situated at No. 8, Nun Street, Off Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja. Like its counterpart, Kaita Integrated Services is also inactive on the CAC portal, leaving the community questioning the reliability of these firms entrusted with crucial healthcare projects.

HumAngle reached out to the lawmakers representing Yobe South for comments on the status of the debilitating health centres, but none of them yielded any response. Senator Ibrahim Mohammed Bomai, who represents Yobe South in the Senate, did not respond to our enquiries about the failed projects. It’s the same with Fatima S. Talba, a House of Representatives member representing the Nangere/Posiskum Federal Constituency.

This report was completed under the HumAngle Northeast Accountability Project, with support from the MacArthur Foundation.