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The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator (Dr.) Ipalibo Harry Banigo has reaffirmed the National Assembly’s commitment to sustained funding and legislative oversight for family planning in Nigeria, describing it as “a life-saving intervention central to national development.”
Speaking at The Challenge Initiative (TCI) National Dissemination Meeting held on Tuesday in Abuja with the theme “Celebrating Milestones, Inspiring Progress: Empowering Local Leadership for a Sustainable Family Planning Future,” Banigo announced that the 2024 budget made provision for ₦2 billion counterpart funding for family planning commodities.
“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 served as Chair of the Rivers State Task Force on Family Healthcare before becoming a senator, commended TCI for its state-driven approach to family health.
“Family planning allows people to determine who they are in the future,” she added. “When I chaired the Rivers State Task Force, TCI played a pivotal role in expanding access and shifting community attitudes. Their innovative initiatives, such as the ‘Makeover Project,’ transformed health facilities and made them more attractive and accessible to women in rural communities.”
She congratulated TCI Nigeria for launching its Project Compendium, urging states to continue funding family planning programmes beyond donor support.
Welcoming participants, Dr. Taiwo Johnson, Project Director of The Challenge Initiative (TCI) Nigeria, reflected on the remarkable progress achieved since 2017.
“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, ensuring sustainability beyond donor support.”
She revealed that over 50 percent of TCI-supported states now have dedicated budget lines for family planning and have integrated funding into their annual operational plans.
“There’s a saying that goes, ‘no product, no service,’” she noted. “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 in the states 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 Nigeria’s human capital development strategy.
“Without family planning, we cannot achieve sustainable development,” Dr. Ukaire 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.”
She commended TCI for aligning its programmes with national policies and data systems, adding that the model has outlived donor dependence.
“Even when TCI ceases to exist,” she said, “the work will continue because the model promotes sustainable investment and long-term programming.”
Andrea Anschel, representing the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) the 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 support and hailed Nigerian states for “writing their own success stories.”
“Sustainability is not about leaving,” she explained, “it’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, lauded Nigeria’s performance as a model of local ownership and sustainability within the global TCI network.
“Over the past eight years, TCI has evolved into a global platform reaching 13 countries and 280 million people,” Lokko said. “Here in Nigeria, working in 22 states, TCI has helped increase contraceptive uptake, improve adolescent-friendly services, and strengthen leadership capacity.”
He cautioned that sustaining these gains would require consistent investment in commodities and services.
“The sustainability of this work rests with you the state governments,” he said. “Commodity stock-outs threaten the trust we’ve built. I urge all commissioners and permanent secretaries to make commodity security a top priority.”
In his goodwill message, Dr. Ejike Oji, Country Coordinator of Advance Family Planning (AFP), commended TCI for complementing national efforts to expand access to family planning services.
“TCI has shown that it is better to cook the rice than to eat it raw,” Oji said humorously. “They have done extremely well in expanding access and are now on the pathway to sustainability.”
He stressed the importance of collaboration in ensuring the 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.
On his part, the Executive Director of Development Communications (DevComs) Network, Mr. Akinlabi Jimoh, has decried the recurring pattern of Nigeria’s family planning initiatives, saying despite decades of interventions and international recognition, the country continues to face the same systemic challenges.
Jimoh recalled that as far back as the 1990s, he had reported on family planning and mental health issues, and by 2008, his organization’s work earned the prestigious One Africa Award from Bono and Angkor. “Yet, I keep wondering despite all the awards and initiatives, it’s still the same old story. Projects come and go, but the underlying issues remain,” he lamented.
He noted that the consequences of poor family planning extend far beyond the health sector, touching every aspect of daily life and national productivity. “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 school and so on. These things are all connected. Family planning affects virtually all of us,” he said. He criticized the short-term nature of many donor-funded programmes, which he said often end without sustainable structures in place, leaving communities to face the same challenges repeatedly.
Calling for a shift in strategy, the DevComs boss urged stakeholders to think beyond conventional project cycles and embrace community-driven, locally adaptable approaches. Citing examples from Sokoto State, he said early community engagement and leadership participation have produced encouraging results. “Perhaps at the community level, we can start doing things differently,” Jimoh advised, stressing that 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.
The meeting, attended by state commissioners for health, Permanent Secretaries ,traditional rulers, civil society groups, development partners, and officials from federal and state health ministries, underscored a shared vision a Nigeria where family planning is fully owned, funded, and sustained by local systems.
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 priority for national growth.
“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.”
