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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Nigeria has urged African leaders to prioritise health security sovereignty, shifting the continent from dependence on foreign aid to robust, homegrown systems capable of handling crises independently.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing President Bola Tinubu at the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly, delivered the call during a high-level side event on “Building Africa’s Health Security Sovereignty” on Friday. The initiative, a partnership between Nigeria and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), focuses on mobilising investments in health workers, community health and sustainable immunisation.
“We stand ready to work with other nations to build a continent that can heal itself,” Shettima declared, emphasising measurable progress in factories, labs, trained workers and expanded insurance. He warned of past vulnerabilities, such as during COVID-19 when “Africa waited, improvised and negotiated for rationed vaccines and scarce oxygen,” adding, “Endurance is not a strategy… leadership is measured not by how long vulnerability can be withstood, but by how deliberately we reduce it.”
In a statement released by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima highlighted Nigeria’s aggressive reforms under Tinubu, including the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which secured over $2.2 billion to renovate 17,000 primary health centres, train 120,000 workers and boost insurance via the National Health Insurance Authority. Other efforts target local pharmaceutical manufacturing, genomic surveillance via the Nigeria CDC, stricter NAFDAC oversight against fake drugs and the Presidential Initiative to Unlock the Healthcare Value Chain (PIPUHVAC) to spur private investment.
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“Health security is national security, and in an interconnected continent, national security is continental security. A virus does not carry a passport,” he stated.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, praised partnerships with Africa CDC and the AU Commission, noting Nigeria’s lead in workforce databases and rural–urban health equity. “Nigeria under President Tinubu is committed to leading by example,” Pate said.
Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya commended Nigeria’s reforms amid continent-wide shortages, urging unified investments. Health ministers from Senegal (Dr Ibrahim Sy), Malawi (Madalisto Baloyi) and Ethiopia (Dr Mekdes Daba) pledged support for workforce databases and community systems.
The event ended with a communiqué from African health and finance ministers, calling on AU heads of state and government to accelerate the continent’s march towards two million community health workers by 2030, elevate them as pillars of primary care and pandemic response, and boost domestic financing with national acceleration plans. Partners such as the AU Commission (AUC), GAVI and UNICEF backed the push.
