In a significant move towards strengthening primary healthcare delivery in Nigeria, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has collaborated with the Presidency, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and other stakeholders to launch a comprehensive programme aimed at revitalizing and operationalizing primary healthcare services in all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Councils.

The programme, which has received widespread endorsement from key stakeholders, including the NDDC and WHO, seeks to address the erosion of rural health ecosystems in Nigeria by developing institutional mechanisms with multi-stakeholder engagements aimed at rejuvenating and entrenching primary healthcare service delivery.

The Stakeholders Technical Workshop on Primary Healthcare Revitalization and Operationalization, held at the State House, Abuja, on August 28, 2024, brought together over 510 delegates from various stakeholders, including the Presidency, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Senate and House Committees on Health and Primary Healthcare, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Federal Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, and State Ministries of Health, among others.

In his welcome address, ALGON National President, Honourable Mu’azu Maifata, emphasized the need for a robust local community health architecture that repositions LGAs as the responsible entity for driving all preventative, palliative, and curative healthcare services. He called for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to PHC development that is LGA-led and takes into consideration multisectoral approaches, people-centered delivery of quality health services, and appropriate community health security interventions.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represented by Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas, Special Adviser to the President on Health, congratulated ALGON for convening the workshop and reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring Universal Health Coverage with PHC at its cornerstone, driven through the Nigeria Health Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII).

The technical workshop received goodwill messages from various stakeholders, including the Honourable Coordinating Minister of Health & Social Welfare, Professor Muhammed Ali Pate; Managing Director of NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku; and WHO Country Representative, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, who collectively appreciated ALGON’s bold step and affirmed their commitment to supporting LGAs in attaining their objectives for primary healthcare in Nigeria.

The workshop featured two technical presentations on the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative through SWAp and ALGON’s Policy and Roadmap for the Role of LGCs in the Future of Primary Healthcare in Nigeria, which formed the basis for in-depth panel and plenary discussions on ALGON’s primary healthcare revitalization and operationalization aspirations.

At the end of the discussions and deliberations, stakeholders made several declarations and commitments, including appreciating President Tinubu’s dedication to repositioning LGCs as the true third tier of government, acknowledging the relevance of the Supreme Court’s ruling on LGC autonomy to delivering key public and social goods, including primary healthcare, and welcoming the technical workshop as an important start to the journey and conversation needed to reposition LGCs to take up their statutory responsibilities for primary healthcare.

Stakeholders also reiterated the need for synergy and collaborative leadership among the three tiers of government and non-state stakeholders in PHC development, recognized the need for strategic engagement with the private sector, and called on development partners to galvanize and align technical and financial support towards capacity strengthening and effective achievement of the ALGON Roadmap for Primary Health Care Revitalization and Operationalization in the 774 LGCs.

The ALGON Stakeholders Technical Workshop was declared closed by the ALGON National President following the recital and adoption of the Communiqué by stakeholders present.