Nigeria’s push toward sustainable family planning received a major boost on Tuesday as the Senate, development partners, and state health officials reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening domestic financing and institutional ownership of reproductive health programmes.
Speaking at The Challenge Initiative (TCI) National Dissemination Meeting held in Abuja with the theme “Celebrating Milestones, Inspiring Progress: Empowering Local Leadership for a Sustainable Family Planning Future,” the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator (Dr.) Ipalibo Harry Banigo, announced that the National Assembly ensured the inclusion of ₦2 billion counterpart funding for family planning commodities in the 2024 budget.
“We made sure there was provision for counterpart contribution for family planning,” Banigo said. “Our goal is to ensure that no single girl or woman who needs this service is left behind. Family planning improves maternal and child health outcomes, and as legislators, we will continue to provide resources and oversight to ensure funds are used to touch lives across the nation.”
Banigo, who previously chaired the Rivers State Task Force on Family Healthcare, commended TCI for its state-driven model and innovative interventions that have transformed reproductive health services across Nigeria.
“Family planning allows people to determine who they are in the future,” she said. “When I chaired the Task Force, TCI played a pivotal role in expanding access and shifting community attitudes. Their ‘Makeover Project’ changed the face of primary health centres and made them more attractive to women in rural communities.”
She congratulated TCI Nigeria on launching its Project Compendium and urged states to sustain funding for family planning beyond donor support, adding that “sustainability starts with ownership.”
Welcoming participants, Dr. Taiwo Johnson, Project Director of The Challenge Initiative (TCI) Nigeria, highlighted the programme’s evolution since 2017, describing it as a model of government ownership and co-financing.
“From the pilot phase to NextGen, TCI has remained government-led, co-financed, and co-implemented,” she said. “Our focus has shifted from demonstrating effectiveness to institutionalizing interventions within state systems. Over 50 percent of TCI-supported states now have dedicated budget lines for family planning and have integrated funding into their annual operational plans.”
She emphasized that the project’s focus on data-driven decision-making and commodity security had changed how states plan and deliver family planning services.
“There’s a saying that goes, ‘no product, no service.’ That’s why we’ve worked closely with states to ensure commodity security. We are proud that data-driven decision-making is now part of the culture where we work.”
Representing the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Binyerem Ukaire, Director, Department of Family Health, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to family planning as a key pillar of human capital development.
“Without family planning, we cannot achieve sustainable development,” she said. “The Ministry is committed to ensuring that reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health services are delivered effectively and equitably. The TCI model has demonstrated that government ownership and sustainability are possible when states take the lead.”
Dr. Ukaire commended TCI for aligning its work with national policies and data systems, stressing that the model had successfully moved from donor-driven to government-owned implementation.
“Even when TCI ceases to exist, the work will continue because the model promotes sustainable investment and long-term programming.
Representing the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP), Andrea Anschel, global lead for TCI, described the meeting as “a celebration of resilience, innovation, and collective achievement.”
“When TCI Nigeria began, the vision was not just to do more for governments but to build systems that governments could own,” she said. “Today, that vision has become a reality. Across many states, we see reduced dependence on external funding and increased domestic financing for family planning.”
Anschel praised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Bayer AG for their consistent support and hailed Nigerian states for “writing their own success stories.”
“Sustainability is not about leavingbit’s about staying differently, standing beside government as a coach and ally. The true measure of success is not what we celebrate today but the lives transformed tomorrow.”
Regional Representative of TCI Global, Kojo Lokko, also applauded Nigeria’s exemplary performance within the 13-country TCI network that has reached more than 280 million people worldwide.
“Here in Nigeria, working in 22 states, TCI has helped increase contraceptive uptake, improve adolescent-friendly services, and strengthen leadership capacity,” Lokko said.
“However, the sustainability of this work rests with youbthe state governments. Commodity stock-outs threaten the trust we’ve built. I urge all commissioners and permanent secretaries to make commodity security a top priority.”
Adding a strong media and advocacy perspective, Mr. Akinlabi Jimoh, Executive Director of Development Communications (DevComs) Network, decried Nigeria’s recurring cycle of family planning interventions that fail to outlive donor funding.
“As far back as the 1990s, I reported on family planning and mental health issues, and by 2008, my organization’s work earned the One Africa Award from Bono and Angkor. Yet, despite all the awards and initiatives, it’s still the same old story—projects come and go, but the underlying issues remain,” he said.
Jimoh stressed that family planning affects all sectors of national life, from education to economic stability.
“When you go to your bank platform, you’re sending money to one person, then to another education group; your wife has given birth, your son is going back to schoolbthese things are all connected. Family planning affects virtually all of us,” he said.
He called for innovation and long-term, community-driven strategies.
“Perhaps at the community level, we can start doing things differently. Nigeria’s future in family planning depends on building systems that ensure continuity, ownership, and long-term impact rather than changing the dynamics of proposals with every new funding round.”
Delivering a goodwill message, Dr. Ejike Oji, Country Coordinator of Advance Family Planning (AFP), commended TCI for complementing national efforts.
“TCI has shown that it is better to cook the rice than to eat it raw,” he joked. “They have done extremely well in expanding access and are now on the pathway to sustainability.”
He emphasized collaboration and transparency, urging timely release and judicious use of family planning funds.
“Together with UNFPA and other partners, we will continue to ensure that funds allocated for family planning are released and used for their intended purpose,” he assured.
The meeting drew participants from state health ministries, commissioners, traditional rulers, civil society, and development partners all united in a shared vision of a Nigeria where family planning is locally funded, owned, and sustained.
As participants applauded the unveiling of TCI’s Compendium of Achievements, the consensus was clear: family planning is no longer a donor-driven initiative but a homegrown national priority.
“The future of family planning in Nigeria,” Senator Banigo concluded, “lies in our collective will to ensure that every woman and girl can decide freely and safely when and how to have children because that is the foundation of a healthier, more prosperous nation.”
