By Our Reporter
Former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has raised alarm over what he described as a deepening medical negligence crisis in Nigeria, calling for an urgent and comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s health regulatory framework.
Agbakoba expressed this concern in a strongly worded statement issued on Monday, saying that the recurring incidents of preventable deaths in Nigerian hospitals pointed to systemic failures in regulation, oversight, and accountability within the health sector.
The legal luminary spoke against the backdrop of the recent death of Nkanu Nnamdi, one of the twin sons of acclaimed author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her husband, Dr. Ivara Esege, an incident that has reignited public debate about patient safety in Nigeria.
Agbakoba, who said he had focused on medical malpractice litigation for over 20 years and handled more than 50 such cases, described the incident as emblematic of wider institutional problems.
According to him, the reported administration of Propofol on Nkanu, a powerful anaesthetic known to carry risks of cardio-respiratory failure if improperly dosed, underscores concerns about competence and adherence to clinical standards, even in hospitals regarded as reputable.
"I am not shocked that such a simple procedure could end so tragically,” Agbakoba said, adding that while investigations were ongoing, there appeared to be a strong possibility of overdose.
The former NBA president commended the Lagos State Government for pledging to investigate the incident and acknowledged the hospital involved, Euracare, for agreeing to cooperate, stressed, however, that all findings must be established through an independent and transparent inquiry.
Nevertheless, he warned that investigations into medical negligence in Nigeria were often compromised, alleging that medical records were sometimes altered to evade responsibility.
Drawing from personal experience, Agbakoba recalled that he was once misdiagnosed in a manner that could have had serious consequences, while his brother narrowly survived surgery allegedly performed by a doctor who falsely presented himself as a qualified surgeon.
Besides, he cited several other cases his firm had encountered, including patients who died following delayed medical responses, negligent surgical procedures, and medication errors, noting that his practice was currently handling 25 active medical negligence cases, with over 20 additional complaints under review.
"These are not isolated incidents, they are symptoms of a systemic collapse," he said.
Speaking further, Agbakoba traced the roots of the problem to what he described as the failure of Nigeria’s legal and regulatory health framework.
He recalled that in earlier decades, the healthcare system operated under a strong supervisory structure, with Chief Medical Officers and Health Inspectors responsible for oversight, compliance, and accountability.
According to him, that structure has since been dismantled, leaving a regulatory vacuum, positing that the current framework under the National Health Act and corresponding state laws had led to excessive centralisation under the Federal Ministry of Health, and thereby weakening state-level oversight.
He said, based on this, many health facilities now operate with “alarming impunity,” without routine inspections, mandatory reporting, or effective enforcement of standards.
Agbakoba also criticised what he described as a governance failure in which Ministers and Commissioners of Health combine policy-making with regulatory enforcement roles, insisting that these functions must be clearly separated to ensure accountability.
"The Chimamanda case has brought renewed attention to this crisis, but it represents only the visible tip of a much larger problem affecting countless Nigerian families," he said.
To address the state of medical care in Nigeria, which situation he described as a national emergency, Agbakoba called for immediate reforms, including the establishment of an Independent Health Regulatory Authority, the reinstatement of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer at Federal and state levels, mandatory registration and inspection of health facilities, independent investigative mechanisms with powers to preserve medical records, and comprehensive legislative reform of Nigeria’s health laws.
"We cannot continue to lose precious lives to preventable medical errors while our regulatory framework remains in shambles.
"The time for decisive legislative and executive action is long overdue," he concluded.
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