The recent passing of former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in a London hospital in 2025, after a protracted battle with leukemia and numerous foreign medical trips during and after his tenure, has once again reignited a painful and provocative conversation about leadership, sovereignty, and the abject state of healthcare infrastructure not just in Nigeria but across much of Africa.
It is indeed a sad tale that a head of state, once entrusted with the welfare of hundreds of millions, should meet his end in the very nation that once colonized his country. This is a searing irony—one that lays bare the systemic failure of successive administrations to cultivate a healthcare system worthy of the people they serve.
This is not merely a Nigerian tragedy; it is a continental indictment, echoed in the untimely deaths of leaders like Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa (France, 2008) and Michael Sata (United Kingdom, 2014), Guinea-Bissau’s Malam Bacai Sanha (France, 2012), Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi (Belgium, 2012), and Gabon’s Omar Bongo (Spain, 2009), all of whom succumbed to death far from home while seeking treatment their own nations could not provide.
The persistent spectacle of African leaders jetting off to European capitals for medical care is not a quirk of personal preference but a damning reflection of priorities and governance. Each flight out is a tacit admission of institutional collapse, a vote of no confidence in the very systems these leaders were elected or appointed to steward. This perpetuates a vicious cycle: the elite’s exodus drains resources and talent, further eroding domestic capacity, which in turn compels even greater reliance on foreign facilities.
The cost is not only measured in the billions of dollars hemorrhaged annually—funds that could, if invested with vision and integrity, resuscitate local hospitals and retain skilled professionals—but in the incalculable loss of public trust and national dignity.
There was a time, not so distant, when Nigerian medical institutions like the University College Hospital in Ibadan commanded continental respect, attracting not only local elites but foreign dignitaries. Their prestige was built on robust infrastructure, clinical excellence, and a culture of innovation. Today, those same institutions are shadows of their former selves, plagued by chronic underfunding, mismanagement, and neglect. Wards overflow, power falters, medicines vanish from shelves, and the best minds flee for greener pastures. The situation is so bad that UCH Ibadan had to be disconnected by Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over unpaid debt and it took over 100 days before the matter was resolved. We have had instances where doctors had to operate on patients using flashlights among many problems bedeveling the health sector in Nigeria.
Today, what we have is a healthcare system in which the average citizen faces substandard care, interminable delays, and, too often, preventable suffering and death.
Nigeria’s current allocation of less than five percent of its national budget to health—a figure that falls woefully short of the African Union’s Abuja Declaration target of fifteen percent—speaks volumes about misplaced priorities.
The consequences are both immediate and intergenerational: poverty deepens, inequality widens, and the social contract frays.
The annual ritual of medical tourism among the political and economic elite is not just a financial drain but a moral abdication, a betrayal of the most basic covenant between state and citizen.
Though, there are glimmers of hope. Initiatives such as the African Medical Centre of Excellence in Abuja demonstrate that progress is possible when political will aligns with strategic investment. Yet, these efforts will remain symbolic unless the very leaders who commission them commit to using and advocating for domestic healthcare. True reform demands more than ribbon-cutting ceremonies; it requires a comprehensive overhaul of infrastructure, equitable remuneration and security for healthcare workers, and transparent, accountable governance.
Public-private partnerships, diaspora engagement, and innovative financing must be pursued with vigor, drawing on both local ingenuity and global expertise.
The deaths of Buhari, Mwanawasa, Sata, Sanha, Zenawi, and Bongo in foreign hospitals are not just personal tragedies but collective failures—a clarion call for transformative action.
President Bola Tinubu and his administration must treat healthcare reform as a national emergency, transforming government hospitals from perilous relics into beacons of healing and hope.
The future of Nigeria’s health sector—and, indeed, the nation’s claim to sovereignty and self-respect—depends on decisive leadership and an unwavering commitment to healthcare autonomy. The era of medical tourism must end. The moment for resolute, visionary action is now. Anything less is an affront to the memory of those lost and a disservice to the living.