Deaths in London: Need to Halt Medical Tourism By Prof M. K. Othman

Deaths in London: Need to Halt Medical Tourism
By
Prof M. K. Othman

In 2006, I was in Maiduguri, gathering data for an animal traction study under the scorching sun of that year’s Ramadan in the northeast. After finishing the day’s work, we took one of my enumerators to his house, which he described as being near London. I wondered which London he meant, but I lacked the energy to ask until the next morning. I was curious to know why he referred to that location as London. He explained that London meant the graveyard because some of the prominent men, when they are sick, are taken to London for treatment, and often their bodies are returned to Nigeria for burial in “London”. It was a cynical streetman’s perspective, mocking the elite for their medical tourism, which sometimes still can’t prevent death. Can anything stop death’s cold grip when it’s finally due? The researchers are still looking for an answer.
In hospitals in London and nearby areas, at least ten prominent Nigerians are known to have died over the past decade and a half, lending credence to the joke in Maiduguri that sparks concerns about healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
The passing of former President Muhammadu Buhari shocked many Nigerians. He had overcome more critical health issues at the beginning of his first term after the 2015 election. He served as Nigeria’s elected president from 2015 to 2023 and was previously a military ruler from 1983 to 1985. He died on July 13, 2025, in a London hospital after a brief illness. President Buhari was from Katsina state. Another prominent Katsina son, Dr. Abba Sayaddi Ruma, a former minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, died in London Hospital. For me, Dr. Abba’s death was the most shocking and least expected because he sounded healthy and hearty. A few days before his death, I spoke with him on the phone, and there was no indication that anything was wrong. “Prof., I am in London now for a check up and will be back in the country next week, and I will arrange a meeting with you and others, Insha Allahu,” he concluded our phone conversation. The next day, I received a call from a friend informing me of his death.
Similarly, prominent sons of Kano, Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu and His Royal Highness Alhaji Ado Bayero, passed away in London at different times. Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu was a Wealthy businessman and generous donor who funded schools and hospitals in Kano State. He passed away in a London hospital at the Age of 93. His Royal Highness Alhaji Ado Bayero, a former Emir of Kano who ruled for over 50 years, was noted for his stability and charitable work. He received treatment in a London hospital before returning to Nigeria, where he passed away.
Other prominent personalities were His Royal Highness, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, and Alex Ekwueme, the Nigerian Vice President in the Second Republic. Mr. Oluyemi Adeniji, a top diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Obasanjo. He represented Nigeria at the United Nations and led peace missions in Africa. He died in a London hospital at the Age of 83. Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah was a successful businessman and senator for Anambra South. He built shipping, oil, and hotel companies and died unexpectedly in London at the Age of 53. Mr. Clement Nyong Isong was a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and later Governor of Cross River. He died in London at the Age of 78. Similarly, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the rebel leader of the breakaway state of Biafra during Nigeria’s civil war. He spent his final days at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, England, and died at the Age of 78.
Still, many unrecorded and unreported deaths of both prominent and non-prominent Nigerians have occurred in various hospitals across Africa, especially Egypt, Europe, Asia, the USA, the Middle East, and other countries. These individuals traveled there seeking better health care, while some died while being transported out of the country. It has become a form of medical tourism that costs Nigerians billions of US dollars. The trend blooms as brain drain continues to impact the health sector, with little concern. It is high time that the nation stops medical tourism to save the health sector. How?
An accomplished columnist, Dr. Hassan Gimba, in his recent article “Buhari: may our subsequent leaders die at home,” recommended establishing six world-class hospitals, one in each of the country’s geopolitical regions. He stated, “Undoubtedly, Nigeria can easily afford to build the best hospitals in the world, locating one in each of its six geopolitical zones, with Abuja having an additional one. We also have the resources to attract the best minds in the medical field and related areas—many of whom are Nigerians.” I wholeheartedly agree with his sound reasoning, but with concern.
Nigeria has the resources to build a world-class hospital anywhere in the country. Building a top-tier hospital involves high costs that vary depending on size, location, and complexity. According to Quora (RSMeans data), costs range from $87 million to $202 million for a hospital between 2 and 4 hectares in size, with capacities of 300 to 600 beds. According to ‘The PUNCH’, a national daily, “Nigerians spent at least $29.29 billion on foreign medical expenses during the eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which translates to an annual spending of about $3.6 billion during the review period.” https://punchng.com/nigerians-spent-over-3-6bn-annually-on-foreign-healthcare-under-buhari/?amp
The $3.6 billion annual expenditure on medical trips to overseas hospitals could build approximately 17 top-tier hospitals at $202 million each, leaving a surplus of $166 million for other needs. The affordability of establishing the best hospitals in Nigeria is beyond doubt; however, the feasibility of doing so is questionable, and managing such hospitals under the current public system is nearly impossible.
First, bribery and corruption in the public and civil service will make the dream of such a gigantic project almost unachievable: the budget will be inflated and padded, haphazardly released, and underfunded, the procurement process will be corrupted to favor unqualified contractors and purchase substandard hospital equipment and facilities, the workers will steal the drugs and the project will take ages to complete. ABU Teaching Hospital took over twenty-five years to complete. Coincidentally, General Obasanjo started it as the military head of state and commissioned it as the democratically elected president.
Second, nepotism, tribal and religious bigotry will kill merit in the appointments of management staff, starting from the Chief Medical Director to specialists and consultants. The sons and daughters of kings and the mighty will be appointed without due regard to their competence and expertise; others may have to bribe their way to be appointed – garbage in, garbage out. Will the workers receive better pay compared to their counterparts in the health sector? The shenanigans of having “special” people working in hospitals will be intensified, just like those in the NNPCL, Central Bank, NCC, and similar institutions. Almost every worker employed in recent years in such places came through someone. Can this kind of setup produce a world-class hospital? What energy to run the hospital? Electricity from the national grid or solar system? What of the attitude of the ordinary people who vandalize and steal every component of infrastructure in public places at the slightest opportunity? What of the private hospitals that will collude with government officials to sabotage such novel projects? The unbecoming attitude of NNPCL to the establishment of Dangote refinery is still fresh in our memory.
Nevertheless, there is hope at the end of the tunnel; Nigeria can attract the private sector to build and operate a world-class hospital in the country. Several models exist to encourage the private sector to undertake such projects, including tax relief, waivers, infrastructural support, interest drawbacks, awareness campaigns, and mobilization of Nigerian and international investors for various Public-Private Partnership models. The Nigerian wealthy should take a leaf from Dr. Aliko Dangote, who, out of patriotism and concern for Nigeria’s ongoing problems of fuel scarcity and high fuel subsidies, built a refinery worth over $20 billion that has provided relief to Nigerians. He is quietly earning his money while serving Nigeria and earning praise and bountiful rewards from Allah. Let us stop medical tourism to save the healthcare sector and conserve our hard-earned foreign currency. All hands must be on deck.