Toluwanisings: Poor response to health emergencies

THE premature death of popular gospel singer, Olayemi Bolaji, popularly known as Toluwanisings, has once again raised serious concerns about Nigeria’s health care system. A country where emergency health services are limited, where people die of ailments that could easily be treated elsewhere, needs to re-examine its healthcare delivery priorities.

Toluwanisings, 41, reportedly slumped suddenly on October 14. He was rushed to some medical facilities in Ibadan, but they reportedly declined to admit or treat him. He eventually died.

Some people close to him reportedly cited a strike by resident doctors as a reason for the difficulty in accessing emergency care at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. The authorities of UCH denied this allegation. They said the strike had been suspended and that the hospital had resumed services.

As expected, this preventable death sparked outrage in the country. Many Nigerians expressed frustration and disappointment over poor emergency health care services and the overall health care system.

Incidentally, Toluwanisings’ case is not an isolated one. Many others have lost their lives due to poor emergency services, power outages in major teaching hospitals, and a near-comatose health care system.

In 2020, a former Super Eagles player, Ajibade Babalade, died of cardiac arrest in Ibadan because he was allegedly denied treatment at a private hospital.

The late Arise News anchor, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, was also said to have been denied medical treatment when she was brought to Maitama District General Hospital in Abuja in 2025. She had sustained injuries during an armed robbery operation at her residence in Abuja.

Due to a sluggish emergency response, a medical doctor, Vwaere Daiso, 26, died at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos, in August 2023. She sustained severe injuries when the hospital’s elevator crashed from the 10th floor.

Besides, reports abound of medical misdiagnosis, poor laboratory services and weak clinical oversight. All this leads to the untimely death of patients. In 2016, a total of 376,039 deaths reportedly occurred in Nigeria due to poor access to a quality health care system.

In September 2025, Aisha Abubakar died as a result of alleged medical negligence at Abubakar Imam Urology Centre in Kano.

It was at this same Urology Centre that a mother of five, Aisha Omar, reportedly suffered severe pains and later died on January 9, 2026. This was after a pair of surgical instruments was allegedly left inside her abdomen during a prior renal cyst operation on September 16, 2025.

A Lancet Global Health Commission Report indicated that improved access to care was not sufficient to improve health in the face of poor-quality care. The report provided the Health System Quality Control Profile for Nigeria, which noted that there were 545,898 deaths preventable from public health measures in 2016.

According to the report, about five million deaths occur per year in low-and middle-income countries due to poor-quality care.

Between 75,000 and 82,000 women die annually from pregnancy and birth complications, according to the US National Institutes of Health.

Toluwanisings would have been alive if he had access to quality care. He appeared healthy a day before his death and was said to have performed at a worship event in Ibadan.

Many other Nigerians appeared healthy but suffered sudden deaths in the recent past due mainly to poor lifestyle or inadequate health checks.

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There was a harvest of this type of death in 2025 alone. The victims included the assistant coach of the Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan, Akin Olowokere; a broadcast journalist with Ogun State Television, Bukola Agbakaizu; a Lagos hotelier, Kunle Akinyele; and the pioneer Head of the Civil Service of the Federal Capital Territory, Grace Adayilo.

In 2024, legendary singer Onyeka Onwenu suffered a heart attack and collapsed at a private birthday party in Lagos. She died at a hospital in Lagos.

Nigeria’s health care system suffers from many other ailments. According to the Nigerian Medical Association, over 50,000 Nigerian-trained doctors currently practise outside the country. The remaining ones are overworked and often embark on strikes to press home their demands for better working conditions.

Besides, some public and private hospitals have other problems such as a shortage of personnel, lack of electricity to power medical equipment, lack of Intensive Care Unit beds, oxygen support, cardiac catheterisation laboratories, MRI machines, and other important equipment for effective diagnosis and treatment.

The worst is that the average doctor-to-patient ratio is about one doctor for every 3,500 to 9,000 people. It is far below the WHO’s recommended doctor-patient ratio of one doctor per 600 to 1,000 people, or 17 per 10,000.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the average life expectancy in Nigeria is about 56.05 years. This is below the global average of 73.7 years.

The government must buckle up if the health of its citizens matters to it. The release of N36 million out of the N218 billion appropriated for the Health Ministry’s capital projects in 2025 is ridiculous.

In turn, Nigerians spend about $1 billion annually on medical tourism, the NMA estimated.

The starting point should be to improve the allocation to and investment in the health sector. The 15 per cent national budget allocation to health, as agreed upon by African countries in Abuja in 2001, is achievable.

Rightly, the NMA called for improved emergency medical services, saying emergency care was a critical measure of the overall quality of a country’s health care system. It noted that the absence of a paramedical emergency response system and inadequate primary health care facilities were part of the shortcomings in emergency care in Nigeria. This is incontrovertible.

Private and general hospitals should procure more functional ambulances to quicken the process of taking patients in emergency situations to tertiary hospitals. They should quickly refer cases they cannot handle to better facilities for prompt attention instead of outright rejection.

Health workers should endeavour to stabilise patients in critical conditions first before demanding huge upfront payment, as some of them are wont to do.

Due to the rise in sudden deaths in the country, Nigerians are advised to go for regular medical check-ups.

Emphasis should be on checking blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, and cardiovascular examinations. If an ailment is detected early, there are better chances of tackling it before it gets worse.

Essentially, people should prioritise their health by getting health insurance, managing stress and chronic disease, and eating a balanced diet. Engaging in healthy habits, including moderate exercise and an active lifestyle, is important.