SUNU Health Restores Journalist's Faith in NHIA with Exemplary Maternity Care During Strike

SUNU Health Restores Journalist's Faith in NHIA with Exemplary Maternity Care During Strike

By Innocent Okoro, FRCN Senior Correspondent

LAGOS, Nigeria – A senior correspondent with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr. Innocent Okoro Onoh, has commended SUNU Health Nigeria Limited for its professionalism and swift intervention in ensuring the safe delivery of his wife during the ongoing health workers’ strike.

In a moving testimony, Mr. Okoro recounted how the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) came to his family's aid when the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Ikotun, Lagos, turned them away at the peak of a medical emergency.

"For over a decade, I had enrolled in the NHIA scheme but never used it due to widespread negative perceptions about the system," he wrote. "All that changed on the night of July 30, 2025, when my wife went into labour."

According to Mr. Okoro, his wife had registered for antenatal care at the Ikotun PHC with a referral arrangement in place for the General Hospital in Igando in case of complications. However, when labour began late at night, the facility was unprepared. They were turned away by a midwife citing the midnight commencement of the nationwide health workers' strike.

“My wife and another woman in labour were told to pray they delivered before 6 a.m., or they would be sent away,” he recounted.

By morning, with no progress and mounting fears for his wife's safety, Mr. Okoro turned to his HMO. In a desperate call, he reached out to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of SUNU Health Nigeria Ltd., who promptly directed him to the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital in Ojo.

“I was shocked at the level of professionalism,” Mr. Okoro wrote. “By the time we arrived, her name had already been logged into their system. The NHIA desk was courteous, efficient, and welcoming.”

He noted that the hospital staff were well-equipped, friendly, and provided expert care throughout the delivery. Despite a challenging birth—his wife delivered a 4.1kg baby naturally—the team ensured a smooth and complication-free experience.

Even without understanding the technicalities of NHIA processes, Mr. Okoro said SUNU Health's staff guided him every step of the way—from retrieving his registration details to processing his claim. Throughout the ordeal, he paid nothing.

“Not a single naira was spent. It was a completely seamless, paperless, and stress-free experience,” he said.

The FRCN reporter described the experience as his best in over two decades of interacting with Nigeria’s healthcare system. More importantly, he said it restored his belief in the NHIA and the potential of health insurance in Nigeria.

“If every enrollee experienced what I did through SUNU Health Nigeria Ltd, then the NHIA programme is truly working,” he said. “SUNU Health has set a standard that others should emulate.”

He concluded by praising the management and staff of SUNU Health for their professionalism and humanity, stating that their intervention did not just deliver a baby but rebuilt his trust in a national institution.

“The future of health insurance in Nigeria is indeed bright—if SUNU Health is anything to go by,” he affirmed.