·Fails to meet 15% benchmark, owes sector N23.562bn shortfall
·Allocates N11.32bn or 4.87% to healthcare in 27 years
This year, the Federal Government will spend N2.48trn on healthcare, if the National Assembly approves President Bola Tinubu's N49.74trn proposal.
In essence, the President earmarked 4.99 per cent of the budget for the health sector, which is marginally better than the 4.87 per cent successive governments have allocated to Healthcare in the last 27 years.
Vanguard exclusively reported, last week, that since 1999, subject to the approval of the 2025 budget proposal, Nigeria has budgeted N232.546trn or $667.887bn based on official exchange rates at the time of appropriation.
Of this staggering sum, the health sector, in 27 years, has been allocated N11.32trn ($35.618bn) or 4.87 per cent.
This allocation falls significantly short of the World Health Organization, WHO's, recommendation of 13 per cent and the African Union's Abuja 2001 Declaration target of 15 per cent.
Highest vote
Since 1999, the highest allocation to the health sector was 6.51 per cent (see table) made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007.
The other years that Health got up to six per cent allocation were in 1999(6.02%), 2014(6.49%), and 2015(6.15%).
Arguably, the allocation of paltry sums to Healthcare has contributed to the worsening healthcare indices of Nigeria.
How? More women die today in Nigeria during child delivery than 26 years ago. According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF, Nigeria's Maternal Mortality Ratio, MMR, was 289 per 100,000 live births in 1999. In 2024, it was 576 deaths per 100,000 live births making Nigeria to have the fourth highest maternal mortality ratio in the world.
Nigeria also housed her citizens better in 1999 when with a population of 119 million the housing deficit was 10,271. As of 2023, national statistics showed that the housing deficit had skyrocketed to 28 million units and could be more now with experts predicting a need for 700,000 new homes annually to address the deficit in a few years.
Furthermore, more Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor today than in 1999.
The number of Nigerians living on less than $1 a day was 83.3 million in 1999 but 133 million as of 2023.
According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, Nigeria has the highest burden of malaria globally, accounting for 27 per cent of it. In 2021, there were an estimated 68 million malaria cases and 194,000 deaths with Nigeria recording 31 percent of the deaths.
In 2022, the WHO African Region reported 233 million malaria cases with Nigeria accounting for 94 percent.
Life expectancy
Although, life expectancy improved from 46.61 years in 1999 to 62.2 years in 2024; and the infant mortality rate dropped from 75 per 1000 live births in 1999 to 53.674 per 1000 live births in 2024, Nigeria's human development index would have been better if the humongous budgets were better allocated and efficiently expended.
For instance, the rot in the healthcare sector would have been better tackled if it got NN34.882trn ($100.18bn), which represents 15 per cent of the entire 27-year budgets.
In other words, Nigeria underfunded and short-changed the health sector with N23.562trn or $64.562bn.
Nigeria's budget since 1999
Year - Budget
1999 - N407bn ($18.59bn)
2000 - N702bn ($8.16bn)
2001 - N1.318trn ($13.31bn)
2002 - N1.0648trn ($9.77bn)
2003 - N1.45trn ($12.72bn)
2004 - N1.3trn ($10.24bn)
2005 - N1.8trn ($14.01bn)
2006 - N1.88trn ($14.63bn)
2007 - N2.39trn ($19.92bn)
2008 - N2.74trn ($23.03bn)
2009 - N3.049trn ($21.03bn)
2010 - N5.160trn ($34.4bn)
2011 - N4.972trn ($33.15bn)
2012 - N5.0386trn ($32.93bn)
2013 - N4.987trn ($31.17bn)
2014 - N5.230trn ($32.67bn)
2015 - N5.6425trn ($29.67bn)
2016 - N6.061trn ($30.74bn)
2017 N7.441trn ($24.40bn)
2018 - N9.12trn ($29.25bn)
2019 - N8.92trn (29.42bn)
2020 - N10.59trn ($29.42bn)
2021 - 14.573trn ($38.45bn)
2022 - N17.908trn ($43.66bn)
2023 - N24.007bn ($55.10bn)
2024 - N35.055trn ($43.82bn)
2025 - N49.74trn ($33.16bn)
27 years - N232.546trn ($667.887bn)
How Nigeria under-funded health in N/$ since 1999
1999 - 24.5bn ($1.119bn) - 6.02%
2000 - N34bn ($395.441m) - 4.84%
2001 - N44.8bn ($452.525m) - 3.40%
2002 - N44.653bn ($409.661m) - 4.19%
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2003 - N55.4bn ($485.965m) - 3.83%
2004 - N59.787bn ($470.764m) - 4.60%
2005 - N71.685bn ($543.068m) - 3.98%
2006 - N106.94bn ($832.218m) - 5.69%
2007 - N122.40bn ($1.02bn) - 6.51%
2008 - N138.18bn ($1.196bn) - 5.04%
2009 - N154.568bn ($1.066bn) - 5.07%
2010 - 164.915bn ($1.099bn) - 3.20%
2011 - N235.867bn ($1.572bn) - 4.74%
2012 - N282.772bn ($1.848bn) - 5.61%
2013 - 282.502bn ($1.766bn) - 5.66%
2014 - 339.38bn ($2.121bn) - 6.49%
2015 - N347.26bn ($1.826bn) - 6.15%
2016 - N353.54bn ($1.793bn) - 5.83%
2017 - N315.85bn ($1.036bn) - 4.24%
2018 - N418.28bn ($1.371bn) - 4.59%
2019 - N461.28bn ($1.512bn) - 5.17%
2020 - N583.96bn ($1.622bn) - 5.51%
2021 - N695.04bn ($1.834bn) - 4.77%
2022 - N826.91bn ($2.016bn) - 3.44%
2023 - N1.17trn ($2.68bn) - 4.87%
2024 - N1.502trn ($1.878bn) - 4.28%
2025 - N2.48trn ($1.653bn) - 4.99%
