Bill Gate terms Nigeria’s health budget Inadequate for Nation’s Needs

Bill Gates, chairman of the Gates Foundation, has criticised Nigeria’s spending on healthcare, warning that the current budget is insufficient to address the country’s high maternal and child mortality rates.

Speaking at a media roundtable on Wednesday, Gate expressed concern over the nation’s low investment in its health sector.

“Well, the amount of money Nigeria spends on health care is very, very small,” he said.
“I don’t know why you would have expected that number (referring to maternal mortality) to go down.”

Gates said he discussed the issue with President Bola Tinubu, emphasising the need for increased health investment. While acknowledging the government’s competing priorities, he stressed that boosting healthcare spending is essential.

“If a mother delivers at home, there are certain complications that you can’t solve. So what countries like India do is they drive delivery into centres where they can give C-sections. But that takes money.”

In February, the national assembly increased Nigeria’s 2025 health sector allocation by ₦300 billion. However, the ₦2.48 trillion budget still represents only 5.18 percent of total public spending — far below the Abuja Declaration’s recommended 15 percent.

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Responding to questions on whether the Gates Foundation could fill gaps left by reduced U.S. funding, Gates was candid.

“There’s nobody who can match that US government money,” he said.
“I’m very upset about it. We’ll have more HIV deaths, malaria deaths, and maternal deaths. There’s just no denying that that money was being well spent.”