Asianet Pakistan Private Limited

For Nigerians living abroad, one of the most difficult realities of building a life in another country is being unable to respond quickly when an aging parent needs help. A phone call can reassure you that your mother is fine, but it cannot take her to a hospital, collect her prescription or sit beside her while a doctor explains a new diagnosis.

That distance becomes more complicated as parents grow older. Routine health checks become more important, medications may increase, mobility can change and a previously independent parent may eventually need help with everyday activities.

For someone living in London, Toronto, New York, Melbourne or elsewhere, simply sending money whenever a medical problem occurs is not a reliable healthcare strategy.

A better approach to managing healthcare for elderly parents in Nigeria from the diaspora is to build a system before an emergency occurs. That system should connect regular medical care, health insurance, financial planning, trusted local support and appropriate use of technology.

The World Health Organization’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) framework provides a useful model. Its 2025 second edition recommends a person-centered pathway that starts with assessment, moves to a personalised care plan and continues through implementation and monitoring. It looks beyond individual diseases to areas such as cognition, mobility, vision, hearing, nutrition, psychological well-being and social support.

Start before there is medical crisis

The worst time to discover that your parents have no reliable doctor, inadequate insurance or missing medical records is during an emergency.

Start by understanding your parent’s current health situation while things are relatively stable. Arrange a proper medical assessment and keep an up-to-date record of major diagnoses, medications, allergies, previous procedures, test results and the contact details of their regular healthcare providers. This does not mean turning an elderly parent’s life into a medical spreadsheet. It simply gives you a clear picture of their baseline health and makes it easier to recognize when something has changed.

This approach aligned with WHO’s ICOPE model, which emphasizes comprehensive assessment and an individualized care plan rather than treating each health problem separately. For older people with several chronic conditions, WHO recommends coordinated care, shared goals, follow-up and support for caregivers.

And for a diaspora family, that information can solve a practical problem: you do not have to start asking basic questions from thousands of miles away when something goes wrong.

Build a healthcare budget instead of waiting for hospital bills

Many diaspora families support parents by sending money whenever they need it. That can work for occasional expenses, but it becomes stressful when healthcare needs become regular. Meanwhile, It is important to build a healthcare budget while waiting for hospital bills.

A better strategy is to establish a dedicated healthcare budget that covers predictable expenses such as consultations, medication, routine tests and transportation. Keep a separate reserve for emergencies that may require hospitalization or specialist treatment. This gives your parents a financial safety net without forcing you to make an urgent international transfer every time a medical issue arises.

The budget should also reflect your parent’s actual health needs. Someone taking several long-term medications or managing chronic conditions may require a different monthly allocation from a relatively healthy older adult. Review the amount periodically because healthcare costs and family circumstances can change.

Use health insurance strategically

Health insurance can reduce the financial shock of medical care, but diaspora families should examine the actual terms of a policy rather than assuming that an expensive plan covers everything.

Nigeria’s National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) provides several health insurance programs. Its Group, Individual and Family Social Health Insurance Programme (GIFSHIP) specifically states that people living abroad can participate by paying for relatives and friends in Nigeria. The program also includes retired individuals and groups of retirees among its eligible categories.

That makes the program particularly relevant to Nigerians supporting elderly parents from overseas. However, eligibility is only the starting point. Before paying for a plan, examine the benefit package, participating hospitals, referral arrangements, medication coverage, diagnostic limits, exclusions and any conditions that could affect access to treatment.

Where a parent’s needs are more complex, compare appropriate private insurance options as well. The cheapest policy is not necessarily the most useful one if the preferred hospital is outside its network or important treatments are excluded.

Choose healthcare providers your parents can actually reach

A hospital’s reputation matters, but accessibility matters too.

A highly regarded facility located far from home may be less practical for an elderly parent who has difficulty walking, cannot drive or depends on another person for transportation. When choosing a primary hospital or clinic, consider distance, appointment arrangements, emergency access, specialist availability and whether your parent feels comfortable using the facility.

According to the broader principle behind WHO’s person-centered approach: healthcare should respond to the older person’s abilities, preferences, environment and goals rather than focusing only on the disease listed in a medical record. WHO emphasizes coordinated care across homes, communities, primary care facilities and hospitals so that older people can maintain functional ability for as long as possible.

Ask your parents what works for them. A healthcare plan designed without their input may look excellent on paper and still fail in practice.

Put a trusted person on the ground

No matter how good your insurance or telemedicine arrangement is, there are moments when someone needs to be physically present.

That person might be a sibling, relative, trusted family friend or professional caregiver. Their responsibility should be clearly understood rather than left to assumption. Depending on the parent’s needs, they may help with transportation, medication collection, appointments or communication with healthcare providers.

For a parent who lives alone, regular welfare checks may also become important. If mobility or cognitive function begins to decline, the frequency and level of support may need to increase.

Avoid building the entire arrangement around one relative if other trusted people can share the responsibility. A small, clearly defined support network is more resilient when one person becomes unavailable.

Use telemedicine, but don’t expect it to replace everything

Technology can narrow the distance between a Nigerian parent and a child living abroad. A video consultation can allow you to participate in certain routine appointments, hear the doctor’s explanation and stay involved in decisions without boarding a flight every time.

But telemedicine has limits. A remote consultation cannot replace a physical examination when one is medically necessary, and an elderly person experiencing an emergency should not be left waiting for an online appointment.

Before using a telemedicine service, establish how the provider handles prescriptions, medical records, referrals, physical examinations and emergencies. It is also sensible to verify the clinician and healthcare provider rather than assuming that an online platform is automatically legitimate.

The best use of technology is to complement local care, not pretend that physical healthcare is no longer necessary.

Create one secure medical information system

When medical information is scattered across WhatsApp messages, email attachments, notebooks and different relatives’ phones, finding the right document during an emergency can become surprisingly difficult.

Create a secure, organized record containing the parent’s important health information, insurance details, medication list, hospital contacts and emergency contacts. Make sure your parent and the trusted person providing local support know how to access the information when necessary.

At the same time, protect sensitive medical and financial information. Do not circulate passports, medical records or insurance documents through large family groups simply because it is convenient. Give access only to people who genuinely need it.

A simple communication structure can also prevent confusion. Everyone should know who contacts the doctor, who arranges transportation, who communicates with the diaspora family and who makes urgent financial arrangements.

Don’t confuse care with taking control

There is an emotional side to caring for aging parents from abroad that financial planning cannot solve.

A parent who has spent decades making their own decisions may not appreciate suddenly being treated as though they have lost all independence. The temptation for an adult child living abroad is understandable: because you are paying the bills, you may feel you should make every decision.

But good elderly care should still respect the parent’s preferences and independence wherever possible. WHO’s ICOPE approach specifically emphasizes shared decision-making and setting goals according to the older person’s needs and preferences.

Talk to your parents about the kind of support they want while they are still able to express their preferences clearly. Discuss their preferred doctors, hospitals, caregivers and emergency arrangements. These conversations can be uncomfortable, but they are much easier when everyone is calm than when a medical crisis has already begun.

Review the plan before circumstances force you to

A healthcare plan that worked two years ago may no longer be adequate.

Insurance networks change. A trusted caregiver may move away. Medication can change. A parent who once lived independently may begin needing assistance with transportation or daily activities. Even the hospital that was convenient five years ago may no longer be practical.

Set aside time at least once a year to review the arrangement and update it after a major diagnosis, hospitalization, fall or significant change in independence. WHO’s current ICOPE guidance follows a similar cycle: assess the older person, develop a personalized care plan, implement it and monitor progress.

That mindset is particularly useful for diaspora families because it turns caregiving from a series of emergencies into an ongoing process.

The real goal is reliable care, not perfect control

Living abroad can make caring for elderly parents emotionally difficult, but distance does not mean you have to be disconnected from their healthcare.

The strongest arrangement combines preventive medical care, appropriate insurance, a realistic healthcare budget, trusted local assistance and technology that helps you stay involved. Most importantly, it is built around the parent’s needs and preferences rather than the family’s anxiety.

The earlier you establish that system, the better. Waiting until your father is admitted to a hospital or your mother suddenly needs daily assistance means making important decisions under pressure.

For Nigerians in the diaspora, managing healthcare for elderly parents in Nigeria is ultimately about creating a reliable bridge between distance and care. You may not be able to sit beside your parents at every appointment, but with proper planning, you can make sure they are not left to navigate the healthcare system alone.

In June 2026, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum ordered the immediate closure of the Bama camp as part of the state’s plan to shut all displacement sites by 2027. Advocacy group PeacePro echoed similar calls to the federal government weeks later. While both are right to insist that internally displaced camps (IDP) should close, they overlook a critical issue. Without a concrete plan to educate displaced children during and after relocation, these closures could worsen the region’s growing illiteracy and security crises.

?Every year, new children are born inside displacement camps. They should grow up learning the alphabet, numbers, and social studies, not merely surviving displacement. Yet in the BAY region (Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states), many displaced children aged six to eight have never set foot inside a classroom. They grow older without the one tool that could transform their lives: an education.

?A child who survives conflict should not also have to survive illiteracy. According to UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education, roughly two million children remain out of school across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, where 56 percent of displaced children do not attend school at all. Nationally, UNICEF puts Nigeria’s out-of-school population at 18.3 million, the highest in the world.

?Solving this crisis requires three decisive actions: mandate a functioning government school in every IDP camp and resettlement site before decommissioning; eliminate the financial and geographical barriers keeping children home; and fund trauma-informed teaching alongside school security under a single budget line.

?The stakes reach far beyond missed classroom hours. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo warned that Nigeria’s out-of-school children represent ‘recruitment for future Boko Haram.’ UNICEF’s regional director for West and Central Africa similarly cautioned that the longer children stay out of school, the greater their risk of abuse, abduction, and recruitment by armed groups. Furthermore, researchers studying displaced youth found that being barred from school drives psychological distress as severe as original conflict trauma. Studies on Boko Haram, ISWAP, and northern bandit networks consistently show that economic desperation, protection promises, and coercion drive youth recruitment, the exact conditions idle adolescents endure daily in displacement camps.

?The clearest fix requires building and staffing permanent public primary and secondary schools inside every formal and informal IDP camp across the northeast. When Governor Zulum announced Bama’s closure, official statements covered screening and resettlement logistics but offered no commitment regarding where resettled children would attend school. State and federal authorities, through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and State Universal Basic Education Boards, must require verified proof of an accessible government school before closing any camp or resettlement site.

?Proven models already exist. The UNICEF-backed Global Partnership for Education Accelerated Funding project targeted two million out-of-school children across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, building on an earlier phase that reached 180,000 children. Similarly, Street Child of Nigeria, supported by the Qatar Fund for Development, enrolled 48,575 out-of-school children across the same states over four years. These programs prove that government-partnered education initiatives deliver when funding aligns with political will.

?However, these interventions lack permanence. Most remain donor-funded, time-limited projects attached to camps targeted for demolition. NGO-built schools inside temporary camps act as stopgaps, not policy. UBEC and state governments must formally designate at least one school per camp as permanent public infrastructure, equipped with its own budget line, staffing establishment, and legal mandate to operate regardless of camp closures.

?Although basic education is legally free in Nigeria, hidden costs persist. Uniforms, exam fees, textbooks, and transportation create overwhelming barriers for households surviving on relief handouts. Many camps sit far from host communities, forcing children to walk long distances through unsafe terrain. Authorities should deploy performance-based enrollment financing, expand federal school-feeding programs, and subsidize transportation or boarding for children living beyond safe walking distances.

?Classrooms alone cannot undo trauma. A 2025 clinical study of abused children in northeastern IDP camps revealed that trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy measurably reduced post-traumatic stress symptoms, proving that psychosocial care is a prerequisite for learning. Every government school built inside IDP camps must integrate trained counselors and trauma-informed teachers from day one, alongside accelerated learning tracks for older teenagers who have missed years of schooling.

?Establishing permanent, trauma-informed, and accelerated schools in every camp will give displaced children a stake in their future rather than leaving a vacuum for armed groups to fill. This policy will ease pressure on host communities, shrink recruitment pools for armed networks, and protect young girls from early marriage and forced labor. Leaving this education gap unaddressed will only compound the cycle of displacement, recruitment, and loss that Northeast Nigeria has endured for over fifteen years.

The Kwara State government has engaged 150 farmers in a five-day capacity training towards improved economic targets and food sufficiency.

The farmers, who comprised of 30 each from the five Special Agric-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ’s) catchment areas: Ifelodun, Asa, Kaiama, Baruten and Mooro local governments, were engaged in ‘high-yield seed, crop protection, products and fertilisers’ under the state’s SAPZ project.

Speaking during the training programme in Ilorin, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, represented by the commissioner for finance, Dr. Hauwa Nuru, said that the training was part of the governor’s vision to improve the economy and sustain job creation.

Governor Abdulrazaq, who said that ‘government cannot do it all alone’, added that there must be collaborations with financial institutions and other relevant agencies, ‘to use agriculture to generate more money and more jobs and improve living standards in Kwara State’.

He also said that the benefits from it would only materialise when the trainees optimise the importance of the use of seeds, which is guaranteed by the economic dimension of the training.

‘To achieve this, we must urge the farmers to take the training seriously’, he said, nudging the facilitators to be more practical, ‘so that our farmers will be more confident in applying their experience here in their various farms’.

Also speaking, the coordinator of SAPZ, Engineer Busari Toyin Isiaka, said that the capacity building for the farmers was a response to the crop component of the SAPZ project.

He posited that it is not enough to be a farmer, ‘it is nice to be a smart farmer and not just a farmer,’ he stated.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner, had earlier, informed that the state government paid over N30billion to offset the backlog of workers’ salary, pension and gratuity owed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government.

She said that civil servants in the state are now better for it, adding that, ‘every state government worker is now being taken care of and they are happy with the state government’.

The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) received more than 28.1 million reports on transactions involving Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in 2025, highlighting the scale of financial institutions’ compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.

The NFIU, in its 2025 Annual Report, disclosed that reporting entities submitted a total of 28,133,909 PEP-related reports during the year.

The agency said the reports formed part of periodic regulatory disclosures required from financial institutions and other reporting entities to strengthen monitoring of transactions involving individuals considered politically exposed.

Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) accounted for the overwhelming majority of the reports, submitting 7,263,557 reports in the first quarter, 5,658,079 in the second quarter, 6,235,585 in the third quarter and 8,225,572 in the fourth quarter.

Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) submitted 12 reports in the first quarter, 692 in the second, 104,565 in the third and 617,286 in the fourth quarter.

Capital Market Intermediaries (CMIs), meanwhile, submitted 3,986 reports in the first quarter, 17,016 in the second, 3,345 in the third and 4,214 in the fourth quarter.

Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) recorded no PEP-related reports during the period.

The NFIU said the volume of reporting reflected extensive compliance activity and the continued monitoring of transactions associated with PEPs.

Beyond PEP-related disclosures, the agency said it received various reports, including threshold-based disclosures, suspicious transaction reports and suspicious activity reports, as well as regulatory submissions relating to the enforcement of Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) measures.

The NFIU disclosed that it received 41,716,214 Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), 42,082 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and 10,513 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) during the review period.

It said it worked closely with designated supervisory authorities, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

The disclosures come against the backdrop of the NFIU’s growing concerns over sophisticated methods allegedly being used by terrorist financiers to conceal illicit funds.

The agency identified the use of deceased persons’ bank accounts and telephone numbers, proxy accounts opened in women’s names, fraudulent crowdfunding networks, pre-registered SIM cards and digital fintech platforms as emerging threats.

According to the NFIU, criminal networks also exploit gaps between SIM registration and Bank Verification Number records to obscure the identities of individuals controlling illicit funds.

The agency urged stronger identity verification, improved monitoring of fintech platforms and enhanced information sharing among financial institutions, telecommunications companies, regulators and security agencies.

It said intelligence gathered from these reports had been converted into targeted advisories, executive alerts and strategic intelligence products to support investigations and policy responses.

The NFIU stressed that continuous adaptation would be required to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated financial crime and terrorist financing techniques.

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, will on September 1, host Ijaw leaders as part of efforts to consolidate the reconciliation process in the Ijaw National Congress (INC).

The event, tagged: ‘Mega unity reception,’ will hold at the Ijaw House in Yenagoa, and will also be attended by major INC stakeholders.

On May 26, the governor, who is known as the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation, constituted a reconciliation committee chaired by Dr Mathew Seiyefa, a former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Other prominent Ijaw leaders on the panel included a former Rivers State deputy governor, Sir Gabriel Toby; former Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Brodrick Bozimo; former INC president, Chief Joshua Fumudoh; national chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Dr. Boladei Igali; and King Goddy Idaminabo.

Dr. Kingsley Kuku and Chief Patrick Erasmus headed the secretariat.

A month later, the committee submitted its report after engaging with aggrieved parties and other stakeholders.

The gathering of Ijaw leaders and INC stakeholders aims to reset the ethnic nationality’s foremost socio-cultural organisation and engender greater unity in the Ijaw nation.

Former Senator representing Ekiti North Senatorial District, Ayo Arise, has faulted the proposal by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to restore the fuel subsidy regime if elected president in 2027.

Arise, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, described the proposal as economically retrogressive, arguing that the removal of subsidy, despite the initial hardship it imposed on Nigerians, had strengthened the financial capacity of the Federal and state governments.

He said the increased resources available to governments had enabled them to meet critical obligations, including the regular payment of workers’ salaries, without constantly relying on loans or financial assistance from the Federal Government.

According to him, the wider economic benefits of regular salary payments should not be overlooked, as workers with disposable income are able to meet household needs, pay school fees and patronise businesses, thereby stimulating economic activities.

Arise spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Television Continental(TVC news) while reacting to Atiku’s pledge to review the subsidy removal policy and return to the former regime if elected in 2027.

He said those advising the former vice president had failed to properly present the broader implications of the policy to him, particularly the financial gains governments had recorded since subsidy removal.

Arise said, ‘I would imagine that the former VP’s advisers have not done him any favour. They’ve not done by explaining that, look, when you have the government now having sufficient funds without any form of interruption to pay salaries.

‘Without running to the Federal Government to ask for any sort of loans to pay salaries. Some of this is being taken for granted because it is happening in real time and nobody is complaining.

‘But in the past, when salaries were not paid, those who were salaried could not buy the little things they needed. They could not pay school fees as it were in the old days.

‘Even if you give them loans or credits, they will not be able to meet their obligations. So it actually comes down to the fact that if people don’t have the buying power because they’re not paid on time, it has consequences beyond what one can easily explain.’

The former lawmaker maintained that a substantial portion of the additional resources now available to governments came from the removal of fuel subsidy, adding that the funds could be channelled into critical sectors, including education and infrastructure.

He cited the use of recovered funds to support the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) as an example of how additional government resources could be deployed to ease the burden on families and enable students who might otherwise drop out of school to continue their education.

Arise argued that Nigerians should assess the subsidy removal policy beyond the immediate increase in the cost of living, questioning the rationale for returning to what he described as a system characterised by mismanagement and corruption.

He said the former subsidy regime had created opportunities for fraud, including claims for petroleum products that were allegedly never imported into the country.

‘The regime of total mismanagement, of corruption, of siphoning our resources outside, people coming in saying that they have imported oil, they just bring papers, you pay them subsidy without anything coming to Nigeria.

‘They were even diverting those things to West African countries. These are some of the understandings, I believe, a good adviser would have presented to his principal before such utterances could have come out,’ he said.

Arise therefore urged Nigerians to consider the long-term economic implications of any proposal to restore fuel subsidy, rather than focusing solely on the immediate relief such a policy might provide.

A peace and security campaigner, Ikechukwu Nwabueze, has cautioned candidates of political parties and their supporters against violating the peace accord signed ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Nwabueze, who is the Executive Director of the Orlu Progressive Initiative (OPI), a non-governmental organisation, urged all political actors to uphold the principles of peace, non-violence, and responsible political conduct.

He stressed that adherence to the accord is essential for ensuring credible, peaceful, and violence-free elections in Nigeria.

The ED, in a media chat in Owerri on Wednesday, expressed appreciation for the coming together of candidates across political parties for such a task, describing it as a welcome development.

He advised those involved in the signing of the accord to ensure they keep to it by understanding that an election is not a do-or-die affair.

Nwabueze also cautioned them to desist from campaigns of calumny and name-calling, but rather focus on issue-based campaigns that would promote transparency and peace during the election period.

He urged them to equally hold their supporters accountable to avoid destroying the system, while appealing to them to ensure their values are sustained.

On the use of youths as thugs, the peace and security campaigner cautioned candidates of political parties to avoid using youths as political thugs, with the tendency to snatch electoral materials, ballot boxes, or commit any electoral crimes during elections.

He used the interview to equally appeal to the youth not to allow themselves to be used as political thugs during elections.

The ED cautioned them to resist any attempt by politicians to engage them in violence or commit any form of electoral crimes during the period.

He said: ‘ am pleading with the youths of this country to resist any money presented to them to be engaged in electoral crimes, to shun every violence as election is coming’.

For the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Executive Director, Nwabueze, appealed to the body to keep to its constitutional mandate to conduct credible, free, and fair election in the country.

He said: ‘INEC should not ho contrary to the expectations of the people of the country. They should remain neutral as provided by electoral law’.

According to him, this will make Nigerians continue to have confidence in the commission, as was demonstrated in the just-concluded Osun Governorship election.

While scoring INEC 60% in the Osun Governorship election, Nwabueze said that the election, to some larger extent, was successful but does not mean there is no room for more improvement.

He advised INEC to maintain the same position it took during the Osun Governorship election, which ended with Nigerians applauding the institution for a job well done.

On the planned Orlu Progressive Initiative upcoming summit scheduled to hold in Owerri next month, September 2026, Nwabueze said that the essence of the summit is to bring under one roof people from different strata of society to promote peace and security in the country and the South-East zone.

He said government and security agencies, traditional rulers, captains of industry, business men and women, traders, including market women, and politicians, irrespective of their political parties, have already been formally invited to the summit.

As part of renewed efforts to strengthen disease prevention and promote healthier living conditions across custodial facilities in Delta State, the state Ministry of Health has donated 1,000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).

There are five custodial centres located in Ogwashi-Uku, Kwale, Agbor, Sapele and Warri.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, said the intervention was aimed at complementing efforts to protect inmates from mosquito-borne diseases, particularly malaria, noting that preventive healthcare remained essential in custodial environments where a large number of inmates live in confined spaces.

The commissioner announced the donation when he received the Controller of Corrections, Delta State Command, Mr. Baranaye Spiff, who paid a visit to his office.

‘Correctional centres are important. The objective should not merely be to keep people incarcerated for a period, but to ensure that they are reformed and adequately prepared to return to society as responsible citizens,’ he stated.

He said the government remains committed to partnerships that will improve the welfare of inmates and strengthen healthcare interventions in custodial facilities.

Onojaeme stressed that effective rehabilitation requires attention to the total wellbeing of inmates, noting that a healthy inmate was better positioned to benefit from correctional, educational and vocational programmes designed to facilitate successful reintegration into society.

Earlier, Spiff said the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) is committed to strengthening partnerships with relevant government institutions, particularly the Ministry of Health, to improve healthcare delivery and the overall wellbeing of inmates in custodial centres in the state.

Spiff lamented the severe pressure on available facilities occasioned by overcrowding, noting that the situation had heightened the need for stronger collaboration and external support, particularly in the area of healthcare.

He appealed to the ministry to deepen its partnership with the NCoS by supporting the provision of essential medicines, preventive healthcare interventions and other medical services required to address the health needs of inmates.

He stressed that sustained inter-agency collaboration remained vital to ensuring that inmates received appropriate healthcare while undergoing the correctional and rehabilitation process.

Former Rivers State Governor and African Democratic Congress presidential running mate, Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed that his administration paid pregnant women N10,000 each to attend antenatal care as part of efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality in the state.

Amaechi made the disclosure while speaking at the Her Health, Her Power Conference Africa 2026 in Abuja on Tuesday, where he reflected on his administration’s efforts to improve healthcare for women during his tenure as governor.

According to him, Rivers State was ranked second on the maternal-child mortality index at the time, prompting his administration to establish health centres across villages and strengthen their staffing.

‘If you follow what happened in Rivers State when I was a governor, we were rated second on the maternal-child mortality index, and to cure that, we had to establish health centres in every village,’ Amaechi said.

He said each village health centre was staffed with two doctors and nurses, while pregnant women who attended antenatal care were given N10,000.

‘Each village has a medical centre; we employed two doctors and nurses, while we paid N10,000 per woman that went for antenatal, so our health centres were full every Friday because they were sure of going home with N10,000,’ he said.

Amaechi explained that the financial incentive was intended to encourage pregnant women to attend antenatal care, adding that the policy also had an economic dimension.

‘They are not coming there for their health but for the money, and that N10,000 is economy. It’s key that we can’t separate the health of women from economic growth,’ he said.

The former governor also stressed the need for greater investment in women’s health and education, arguing that economic conditions have a direct impact on the wellbeing of women.

‘In a global economy like that of Nigeria, 40 per cent of women are farmers, so we need to do more as politicians to see that women live healthier,’ he said.

Amaechi, who served as Rivers State governor from 2007 to 2015, also said educating women was critical to improving leadership and development outcomes.

‘No matter how much grammar we speak in our different states as governors, we need to do more for our women, and another thing we need to do is to make sure that they get educated; they make better leaders when they are educated,’ he added.

A chieftain of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Usman Austin Okai, has urged Abuja residents earning less than N300,000 monthly to consider exploring additional sources of income amid the rising cost of living.

Okai made the comment in a Facebook post, where he argued that the declining value of the naira had eroded the purchasing power of workers and made it increasingly difficult for many Nigerians to meet their basic needs with their salaries.

According to him, workers earning below N300,000 in Abuja may struggle to maintain a decent standard of living because of the high cost of accommodation, food and transportation in the Federal Capital Territory.

Okai wrote, ‘If your salary is not up to at least 300k in Abuja, the difference between you and Almajiri is just the plate. Business better alternative now. Our currency is destroyed.’

Housing remains one of the major expenses for residents of Abuja, particularly in high-demand areas such as Wuse, Maitama and Asokoro. Residents in districts including Lugbe, Kubwa and Nyanya also contend with high annual rental costs.

Food prices have also placed additional pressure on household budgets, with staples such as rice, eggs, bread, tomatoes, cooking oil and chicken becoming more expensive.

Transportation costs have similarly risen, affecting workers who commute daily to their places of employment.

The increase in petrol prices following the removal of the fuel subsidy in 2023 has contributed to higher transportation costs and fares.

The combination of rising food and transportation costs, naira depreciation, and accommodation expenses has continued to put pressure on household incomes, particularly for low- and middle-income earners in the Federal Capital Territory.