When labour pains struck Maryam Hassan one stormy night, her neighbours rushed to fetch “a doctor” who is the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of Kofa Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in Niger State.
With the only clinic abandoned due to a bat infestation, her options were limited: a crammed shop converted into a clinic or an arduous 10-kilometre journey to Gauraka or Sabon Wuse General Hospital.
For Kofa, a rural community in Iku ward, Tafa Local Government Area (LGA) with 7,000 residents, childbirth is a negotiation between life and death. The village has been without a functional health facility for over a year.
A health post is meant to cater for at most 500 people, but Kofa health post serves between 2,000 to 5,000 people from multiple villages. The community now depends on a small shop provided by the OIC, as the facility was shut down after bats overran the building, leaving it unusable.
Without proper infrastructure or Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) support, “childbirth here is a nightmare,” said Maryam. “When a woman is in labour, our hearts race because we know there is no real facility, only the OIC, who is already overwhelmed, or referral, which is a tough journey.”
Tables and documents with limited space and no privacy. Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch
Before the bat infestation
Isa Kofa, a resident, added that, “since the year 2000, this clinic has been the lifeline of our community. We have cried out to the LGA many times, but our efforts seem wasted. Without health, we are nothing.”
Even before the closure, Muhammed Gani Danladi Kofa, the OIC, recalled that “just two of us managed the clinic. I tried fumigating, but the bats always returned. The stench forced us out. Now, I attend to the entire community in a small shop, with barely any supplies. It is heartbreaking.”
The absence of a proper PHC leaves mothers and children exposed to preventable deaths, worsens inequalities, and overburdens the only health worker. Despite the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Plan’s pledge to establish at least one Level 2 PHC per ward by 2027, communities like Kofa remain in limbo.
Based on the ongoing revitalisation effort by the Niger State government, renovating, expanding, and equipping Kofa’s PHC, supported by BHCPF, would save countless lives.
Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch
We call on the government and stakeholders to
- Rebuild Kofa PHC,
- Deploy trained and qualified staff,
- Provide an ambulance for emergency referrals, and
- Include the facility under BHCPF.
“Health is the bedrock of everything,” Isa Kofa said. “Without it, we are nothing.”