Private healthcare providers in Lagos are crying out for help as electricity and fuel expenses now gulp nearly 40% of their total operating costs, leaving hospitals overstretched and patient care under threat. Speaking ahead of their Annual General and Scientific Conference, the Lagos Chapter Chairman of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), Dr. Jonathan Esegine, shared a grim reality: doctors are running generators through the night at N1,200 per litre just to save lives often without getting paid a dime. “A pregnant woman with placenta complications was collapsing, and I had to keep the generator on all night. By morning, I was out of pocket, and she couldn’t pay even a kobo,” he revealed. With government hospitals often closed during strikes, private doctors say they remain the first and sometimes only responders, attending to patients even at midnight with empty wallets.
The AGPMPN warns that unless the government steps up with electricity subsidies, digital healthcare investment, and better policy support, the private health system, which serves over 70% of Lagos residents, may crumble under pressure. Dr. Tunji Akintade, head of the conference committee, highlighted that hospitals are struggling to adopt modern technology without any form of government backing, unlike the telecoms sector, which once benefited from massive subsidies. Other officials called out the hypocrisy of politicians seeking treatment abroad while starving local hospitals of essential support and supplies. They also criticized the flawed health insurance structure, calling the current N500 capitation per patient “unrealistic and insulting.” The AGPMPN conference, set for September 10–11, will tackle urgent topics like brain drain, health insurance reform, and strategies to keep private hospitals afloat amid Nigeria’s worsening economic climate.
