Rabi Mustapha (Lead Writer)
The night Maryam Abubakar, a resident of Tirikania, went to receive care at her nearest Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), she found it locked. “I came in severe pain, only to find the facility locked because the landlord had [temporarily] shut it down over unpaid rent.”
For over 4,000 women in the community, this rented PHC is their only hope, yet it faces permanent closure.
Located in Chikun Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State, the Tirikania PHC is a Level 1 facility operating under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). However, instead of a standard health centre, the community has been forced to use a rented residential building, overcrowded and unfit for healthcare.
There are no antenatal or labour rooms, and male and female patients are usually crammed together with women often losing trust and walking away from care.
The state government began building a new PHC for the community, meant to be completed in six months but construction halted after just one week of progress due to lack of adequate funding. Now, with the landlord of the PHC property issuing an eviction notice, the facility could shut its doors, leaving thousands of residents, especially women and children, without access to care.
“It does not even look like a clinic,” Mrs Gladys Emanuel, the Officer in Charge, remarked. “Women pass by thinking it’s just a house. We have no labour room, no antenatal room, and not enough space.”
Emanuel Adamu, Chairman of the Ward Development Committee (WDC), stated that, “the current building is overcrowded and unsafe. Construction of a new PHC has stalled because workers were not paid. We are pleading with the government to release funds before we are evicted.”
Despite being a BHCPF focal facility, the PHC struggles with poor infrastructure, a lack of space, and looming eviction. If shut down, 4,000 women will lose their closest source of care, forcing them to travel long distances or depend on untrained providers, heightening risks of maternal and child deaths.
The Tirikania situation reflects gaps that Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal aims to address by building a resilient, equitable, and quality health system. Without urgent intervention, these national promises risk becoming unfulfilled for communities like Tirikania.
The government must therefore
· Urgently complete the new PHC, ensuring women and children are not abandoned.
“We have done our part as a community,” said WDC Chairman, Adamu. “Now we beg the government not to wait until we are thrown out. Our women and children deserve better.”