NIPHID bill: Where NCDC got it wrong – The Nation Newspaper
July 6, 2026 by Our Reporter
NIPHID bill: Where NCDC got it wrong
- By Aliyu Bako
Sir: The House of Representatives committee on infectious disease on Thursday, 25th June, organised a one day public hearing on a bill for an act to establish the National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Disease for prevention, research, diagnosis control and management of infectious diseases in Nigeria and for related matters. It is however sad to note, while the country had suffered negatively during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2021 and government is currently devising more ways to strengthen health care delivery, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has strongly opposed the proposed National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases (Establishment) Bill, 2025. It warned that the creation of a new public health institution could duplicate existing responsibilities, create governance conflicts, and weaken Nigeria’s disease control and emergency response framework. This is far from the truth.
The NCDC has rather interpreted the bill wrong. The bill for the establishment of the proposed institute is not an attempt to take over the centre’s mandates. It is an effort to decentralise emergency response to disease outbreaks and other related health matters with clearly marked boundary
The proposed National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases (NIPHID) is aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases and public health emergencies. Its core focus is to improve disease surveillance, enhance emergency preparedness and build a highly skilled public health workforce
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The institute will also promote research and innovation, support advanced laboratory systems and provide evidence-based policy advice to government. In addition, it will coordinate national health programs, improve data management systems and foster collaboration with global bodies such as the World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, NIPHID is intended to serve as a central institution for strengthening health security, improving public health awareness and ensuring rapid, effective responses to disease outbreaks in Nigeria. This is in a sharp contrast to what NCDC thinks. By looking at the objectives of the bill, one had expected NCDC to close ranks and rally support for the prompt establishment of the institution for quick response and wider national coverage. We have seen how some agencies with almost similar mandate work independently and collaborate in some areas for national development. When President Olusegun Obasanjo created EFCC and ICPC in 2003, many Nigerians raised observations, thinking the two sisters agencies had similar mandate. Today, we see how these agencies conduct their operations to the satisfaction of Nigerians.
NCDC should wholeheartedly support the proposed bill for national development. If NIPHID’s bill is successfully passed into law and the institution is created, the tendency for improved service delivery is high from two sister agencies. NCDC should not think NIPHID will become a rival agency, but rather a partner for national development
• Aliyu Bako writes from Zaria, Kaduna State
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