By Dr Nafisat Makinde
Abuja. In a ceremony that felt like a national wake-up call 65 years in the making, the Federal Government on Monday, 1 December 2025, inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee whose sole job is to ensure Nigerian hospitals finally have light when lives hang in the balance.
Dr Iziaq Salako, Minister of State for Health, did not mince words: “No Nigerian should be left in the dark while seeking healthcare.” Every doctor, nurse and midwife in the country heard that and felt the weight of every delivery done by phone torch, every surgery paused while someone kicked a noisy generator back to life. The statement was contained in a press release signed by Alaba Balogun, Deputy Director/Head, Information & Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
The newly launched Nigeria Power for Health Initiative has set a two-year target: reliable electricity in at least 50% of health facilities by 2027. For the other half, the old tradition of operating by lantern, moonlight or the faint glow of a dying Android phone continues, for now.
Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu proudly announced that national generation has crept from 13GW to 14GW in two years, an increment Lagos Island alone swallows before breakfast.
Behind the speeches and handshakes, one question hung in the air, finally spoken out loud after six decades: can power failure actually kill patients? The answer, delivered in the form of this new committee, is apparently yes, and we are only admitting it in 2025.
The committee will meet, form sub-committees, and very likely create committees to oversee the sub-committees. Because when you have failed at something as basic as keeping the lights on in hospitals for 65 years, the Nigerian solution is always more coordination.
Somewhere in a labour ward tonight, a midwife is still holding a lantern in one hand and a newborn in the other.
She is waiting for the committee’s first miracle.
Sixty-five years of independence. One committee to flip the switch.
Only in Nigeria.
