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The Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) says that former President , Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has accepted to be an advocate for children’s nutrition and healthcare in an efforts to reduce the high deaths rate amongst them.

“More than 800 Nigerian families lose a newborn everyday, despite the fact that most of the deaths are preventable,” said the PAN President, Dr Ekanem Ekure.

Speaking at a press conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State, ahead of the 57th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the association, Ekure lamented about Nigeria’s worsening child health indicators, warning that vaccine-preventable diseases, malnutrition and rising newborn deaths continue to claim thousands of young lives daily.

While visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his residential house in OOPL, the association demanded that he should an advocate for children’s nutrition. A tasked he greatly accepted.

He pledged to be an advocate of child healthcare and utilize his strength even though he doesn’t have children at hand anymore.

Ekure said Nigeria remained off track in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG-3), particularly in the areas of neonatal and under-five survival, describing the situation as a national emergency requiring urgent political, financial and technological intervention.

According to her, about 50 percent of child deaths in Nigeria are worsened by malnutrition, noting that poorly nourished children are far more likely to die from infections than healthy ones.

Ekure blamed vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, poverty, insecurity and weak health financing for Nigeria’s high burden of preventable child deaths, warning that the resurgence of diseases such as measles in some parts of the country mirrored global trends where immunisation rates have fallen.

• Rivers State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Oreh

The Rivers State Government has ordered a full-scale investigation into allegations of extortion, including money-for-marks and the sale of examination papers, at the State College of Medical Sciences in Port Harcourt.

The State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Oreh, disclosed that following the allegations, the government has suspended the head of one of the departments linked to the alleged offences, although the specific department was not disclosed.

She also announced that a committee chaired by the Chief Medical Director of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital had been constituted to thoroughly investigate the allegations.

Oreh said that the action followed a series of complaints against the institution, which also included allegations of students being compelled to pay for the approval of project topics.

Oreh said, “The Rivers State Ministry of Health, and indeed the Rivers State Government, have zero tolerance for corruption in any shape or form.”

Dr Olisa Agbakoba has called on the Federal Government to immediately restablish an independent Health Regulatory Authority with powers to inspect facilities, enforce standards, and sanction non-compliance public and private hospitals.

Agbakoba, SAN Senior Partner & Head Medical Practice, Olisa Agbakoba Legal, made the call today, citing the case of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s son , and other Nigerians who have died as a result of medical negligences.

While commiserating with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her husband, Dr. Ivara Esege, Agbakoba noted that the fundamental problem underlying these tragedies is the complete failure of the legal and regulatory framework governing Nigeria’s health sector.

Agbakoba noted that in the old days, the healthcare system functioned under a robust supervisory structure. Chief Medical Officers and Health Inspectors were responsible for oversight of critical care, ensuring compliance with standards, and holding practitioners accountable.

“The last Chief Medical Officer of Nigeria was Dr. Samuel Layinka Manuwa.Today, under the National Health Act and State Health Laws, this essential regulatory infrastructure no longer exists.

He emphasised, ” Our health sector has become over centralised under the Federal Minister of Health, causing states to become lax in oversight responsibilities.

As a result, health facilities and medical practitioners operate with alarming impunity.

There is no requirement for routine submission of reports, no systematic inspections, and no effective enforcement of professional standards. Ministers of Health and Commissioners of Health have assumed roles that conflate policy-making with regulatory enforcement—a fundamental governance failure.

There must be a clear separation of functions: Health Ministers and Commissioners should focus on policy development and strategic direction, whilst independent Health Inspectors and regulatory bodies must be empowered to enforce standards, conduct inspections, and ensure accountability,” he said.

” As a medical negligence legal specialist, I must express grave concern about the recurring incidents of absolutely preventable deaths resulting from medical negligence by health practitioners across Nigeria.

“There must be a clear separation of functions: Health Ministers and Commissioners should focus on policy development and strategic direction, whilst independent Health Inspectors and regulatory bodies must be empowered to enforce standards, conduct inspections, and ensure accountability.”

Agbakoba, therefore emphasised for:

1.Reinstitution of the Office of Chief Medical Officer at federal and state levels with clear enforcement mandates;

2. Mandatory registration and periodic inspection of all health facilities with transparent reporting requirements;

3. Independent investigation mechanisms with powers to access and preserve medical records, preventing tampering or alteration;

4. Clear separation between policy formulation and regulatory enforcement within the health sector governance structure;

5.Comprehensive legislative reform to update Nigeria’s health laws to reflect modern standards of care, accountability, and patient protection; and the time for comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s health system is long overdue.

“We cannot continue to lose precious lives to preventable medical errors whilst the regulatory framework remains in shambles.

This is a matter of national emergency that demands immediate legislative and executive action,” he said.