A former Assistant Director at Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Dr. Ofodire Emeka, has accused senior ministry officials of deliberate obstruction, persecution, and administrative abuse following his sustained advocacy for reforms in Nigeria’s nuclear medicine sector.

Dr. Emeka, a recipient of the 2011 NYSC President’s Honours Award who joined the FMOH in 2012 through an automatic federal appointment, said his challenges began when his push for reform was perceived as a threat rather than a contribution.

“I was punished simply for refusing to accept stagnation,” he said, describing the ministry as resistant to progress and comfortable with mediocrity.

According to him, Nigeria’s nuclear medicine programme remains underdeveloped, operating at an early phase while other African countries deploy advanced technologies such as PET-CT, PET-MRI, modern radionuclide therapies, and proton therapy. He noted that Nigeria currently has only two outdated nuclear medicine scanners located at University College Hospital, Ibadan, and the National Hospital, Abuja.

Dr. Emeka contrasted this with countries including Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and South Africa, which he said have facilities comparable to those in developed nations. He dismissed security-related fears surrounding nuclear medicine as misguided, explaining that most African countries import radioisotopes and do not require nuclear reactors to run advanced services.

He further alleged that between 2008 and 2018, efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to expand Nigeria’s nuclear medicine centres from two to eight failed due to lack of commitment and counterpart funding from the FMOH.

Dr. Emeka said he was persuaded by senior officials in 2012 to abandon plans to study public health in the UK and instead pursue nuclear medicine at King’s College London, based on assurances that the government was committed to developing the sector. He described the decision as “the biggest irony” of his career.

After returning to Nigeria in 2013, he served as Desk Officer for the National Cancer Control and Nuclear Medicine Programmes. In 2017, he began residency training at the National Hospital Abuja, where he said the programme lacked funding, direction, and institutional support. He alleged that consultants and international partners became frustrated, and that the programme’s chief trainer eventually left Nigeria.

Disillusioned, Dr. Emeka later abandoned nuclear medicine training and completed a PhD in Pharmacology in March 2025.

He said renewed hope emerged in 2023 following the appointment of Professor Mohammed Ali Pate as Minister of Health and Social Welfare. Dr. Emeka proposed the creation of a dedicated Nuclear Medicine Office within the FMOH, but alleged that the proposal was blocked at senior administrative levels despite initial support.

According to him, his correspondence to the Minister was deliberately withheld, and officials warned that his proposal would never receive approval. He said the obstruction continued even after the Minister reportedly directed that the proposal be formally transmitted.

By early 2024, Dr. Emeka said the work environment had become hostile, prompting him to formally withdraw his services on May 1, 2024, after serving the required notice period. Despite following due process, he alleged that his salary was immediately stopped and that he was later queried for absence without leave.

In September 2025, more than a year after his resignation, Dr. Emeka said he received a letter stating that his withdrawal of service had not been approved due to alleged disciplinary proceedings. Subsequent petitions to the Minister, he added, have gone unanswered.

Dr. Emeka is now calling for an independent investigation into what he described as systematic abuse of power, suppression of official correspondence, and victimisation of reform advocates within the ministry.

“This is bigger than me,” he said. “It is about how Nigeria treats people who try to reform broken systems.”

He warned that continued resistance to reform is damaging Nigeria’s healthcare system, noting that foreign governments increasingly warn their citizens about inadequate healthcare in the country.