The Federal Government has significantly increased Nigeria’s nursing and midwifery training capacity to over 110,000 in the 2024–2025 academic cycle, up from 28,000 in 2023, in a major push to strengthen the country’s health workforce and improve service delivery nationwide.
The announcement was made by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, at the opening of the 2026 Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation conference hosted in Nigeria. He described nurses and midwives as central to the delivery of healthcare services, stressing that the expansion is aimed at closing workforce gaps while improving access and quality of care.
“This scale-up reflects our focus on building a health system that is supported by a well-trained, motivated, and adequately equipped workforce,” Pate said.
The expansion forms part of broader reforms under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which prioritises workforce development, improved governance, and expanded access to healthcare services.
In addition to the training expansion, the government has intensified efforts to strengthen the health system through workforce development and institutional reforms. Over 70,000 frontline health workers have been retrained nationwide, while more than 20,000 health professionals have been recruited into federal health institutions over the past two years. Authorities say coordination across all tiers of government has also improved through the Sector-Wide Approach framework.
Nigeria has also adopted global best practices to enhance healthcare delivery, including the introduction of the Best Practice Spotlight Organization model in partnership with the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, aimed at improving standards in critical areas such as maternal and newborn health.
A National Strategic Plan for Nursing and Midwifery has also been developed to guide training, leadership development, and service delivery across the sector, as part of efforts to institutionalise reforms and ensure sustainability.
According to the minister, these initiatives are already yielding results, with millions of Nigerians accessing primary healthcare services each quarter. He added that health insurance coverage has expanded from 16 million to nearly 22 million enrollees, reflecting gradual improvements in access to care.
Pate noted that hosting the Commonwealth conference provides Nigeria with an opportunity to strengthen international collaboration and exchange practical solutions to shared health workforce challenges.
