A House of Representatives committee has sharply criticized the chief medical directors of Nigeria’s federal teaching hospitals and medical centers for allocating minimal funds to research, suggesting that traditional medicine practitioners are contributing more to health research than these institutions.
Speaking during a budget defense session on Tuesday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Health Institutions, Patrick Umoh, expressed disappointment that teaching hospitals—expected to be hubs of research and innovation—consistently prioritize infrastructure over scientific inquiry.
“Teaching hospitals are supposed to be centres of research. You have never raised the issue of lack of funding for research, but you talk more about infrastructure. That makes you part of the problem,” Umoh stated.
He further remarked, “The COVID-19 pandemic caught us all unprepared. Let me mock you a little by saying that traditional medicine practitioners appeared to be doing better.”
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, Prof. Pokop Bupwatda, Chief Medical Director of the Jos University Teaching Hospital, acknowledged that only about **one percent** of teaching hospital budgets is earmarked for research. He explained that even this small provision is often removed during the national budgeting process.
Bupwatda also highlighted systemic challenges, noting that federal tertiary health institutions received only about 30 percent of their allocated funds in 2025. He appealed for increased health sector funding to improve staff welfare and stem the migration of doctors abroad.
The session underscored growing legislative concern over the declining role of Nigeria’s top medical institutions in research and development, amid broader calls for enhanced investment in the health sector.
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