How RCCG is Taking on Nigeria’s Kidney Crisis

Staying alive with kidney failure in Nigeria often means racing against cost and distance to find a dialysis machine. With most patients paying out of pocket and just over 200 centres clustered in big cities, access is still a luxury for many. For more than a decade, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, through its His Love Foundation, has quietly been closing that gap, installing dialysis centres, ICUs, and diagnostic units inside public hospitals across the country. On September 24, that effort grew again with the commissioning of the Enoch and Folu Adeboye Dialysis Centre at FMC Asaba – another faith-built lifeline for patients fighting to survive. Writes MARY NNAH

In Nigeria, surviving kidney failure often comes down to two harsh realities: how close you are to a dialysis machine, and whether you can afford to use it three times a week.

For many, the cost of treatment and limited access to dialysis facilities can make continued care difficult, diminishing patients’ hopes of survival. According to a 2024 study of patients with end-stage kidney disease in Abuja, haemodialysis imposes a substantial financial burden, with patients’ out-of-pocket expenses increasing with the number of treatment sessions. The study also found that most Nigerians requiring haemodialysis pay for treatment out of pocket.

Research has also highlighted challenges beyond cost, including inadequate access to diagnosis and the geographical concentration of kidney care services.

It is against this backdrop that His Love Foundation, the Christian Social Responsibility arm of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has sought to expand access to healthcare by providing dialysis centres and other medical facilities across Nigeria.

The latest addition is scheduled for 24 September, when RCCG, through His Love Foundation, will commission the Enoch and Folu Adeboye Dialysis Centre at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba. The centre is expected to be commissioned by Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori. While the Asaba project is new, the intervention represents the continuation of a healthcare programme that has been developing for more than a decade.

Over the years, His Love Foundation has moved beyond occasional medical outreaches to providing specialised equipment and facilities within public and teaching hospitals. According to the Foundation’s website, it has commissioned 10 dialysis centres across Nigeria, alongside four intensive care units, a correctional centre referral hospital, two ambulances, a cardiac diagnostic unit, a primary healthcare centre and two X-ray facilities. The Foundation says its interventions extend across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with impact recorded in 650 local government areas.

From one ICU to a network of interventions

His Love Foundation’s healthcare interventions can be traced to projects undertaken before its more recent expansion. Among them was the Intensive Care Unit at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), commissioned in 2017, followed by an ICU at Plateau State Specialist Hospital in Jos and another at Redeemer’s Health Centre in Mowe, Ogun State.

In April 2021, the Foundation commissioned the Akindayomi-Adeboye Intensive Care Centre at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital complex in Ondo State.

The Ondo project was notable because it went beyond intensive care. It incorporated an ICU, kidney dialysis unit, cardiac diagnostic unit, and X-ray unit. That combination illustrates a pattern that has become increasingly visible in the Foundation’s health projects. Rather than concentrating exclusively on one category of medical intervention, some projects seek to address several infrastructure gaps within the same health facility.

Why dialysis keeps appearing

Kidney care has, however, become one of the most prominent features of the Foundation’s healthcare programme.

A Foundation record published in 2022 listed dialysis centres at Healing Stripes Dialysis Centre in Lagos; Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu; Redeemer’s Health Centre, Mowe; Redeemer’s Health Centre, Ibadan; University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Ondo; University College Hospital, Ibadan; Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos; Wuse District Hospital, Abuja; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi; and Umaru Shehu Ultra-Modern Hospital, Maiduguri.

It also identified centres at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, and the Comprehensive Medical Centre, Awkuzu, Anambra State, as projects awaiting commissioning. The Foundation’s Maiduguri intervention provides an indication of what goes into establishing a functioning dialysis facility.

Commissioned in May 2022, the centre at Umaru Shehu Ultra-Modern Hospital was equipped with three dialysis machines, a medical water reverse-osmosis purification system and a dedicated 30KVA generator. At the time, the Foundation said the project brought the number of dialysis machines it had commissioned nationwide to 48.

The supporting equipment is significant.

Providing dialysis is not simply a matter of buying machines and installing them in a room. Water treatment, electricity, consumables, trained personnel, and maintenance are all necessary for sustained operation. That reality makes what happens after the commissioning ceremony an important part of assessing any healthcare donation.

The cost behind the treatment

The need for additional dialysis capacity becomes clearer when the economics of kidney care are considered. A study examining the management of end-stage renal disease in Abuja found that the direct cost of haemodialysis was high, while patients incurred additional expenses for medicines, laboratory services, transportation, feeding and the treatment of other conditions. It concluded that public subsidies and wider health insurance coverage could help reduce the financial burden.

The Federal Government subsequently introduced a dialysis subsidy scheme in 2025, reducing the approved cost per session at participating federal tertiary institutions from N50,000 to N12,000 under the pilot programme. Participating institutions included University College Hospital, Ibadan, and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, among others.

Yet even with public intervention, the need for greater capacity remains.

A recent review of kidney care in Nigeria noted that haemodialysis is the predominant form of renal replacement therapy and that more than 200 dialysis centres are concentrated largely in major cities, creating access challenges for people in rural communities. For patients, therefore, the location of a dialysis centre can be as important as the availability of a machine.

This is where interventions located within government-owned teaching hospitals and medical centres become particularly relevant.

Beyond dialysis

The Foundation’s healthcare work is not restricted to kidney disease. Its documented interventions include the Healing Stripes Cancer Screening Centre in Surulere, Lagos; X-ray units at health facilities in Ogun and Ondo states; a cardiac diagnostic unit in Ondo; and the rehabilitation of the Kirikiri Correctional Centre Referral Hospital in Lagos. It has also provided ambulances to correctional facilities, including Kirikiri and Agodi.

Earlier reports from the Foundation also recorded medical missions, subsidised cancer screening and dialysis services, as well as kidney transplant support through partnerships with medical institutions abroad.

A 2023 academic study examining RCCG’s development activities cited figures reported by the Foundation showing that more than 100,000 people had been screened at subsidised rates through its cancer screening and diagnostic programme, while more than 9,500 dialysis sessions had been completed at the Healing Stripes Dialysis Centre at the time of the study.

Together, the interventions illustrate a programme operating at several levels.

There is prevention through screening, diagnosis through X-ray and cardiac diagnostic services, critical care through intensive care units, and long-term treatment through dialysis centres.

There are also interventions directed at populations particularly vulnerable to inadequate healthcare, including inmates of correctional facilities.

The intervention keeps expanding..

Recent developments suggest that the programme continues to expand.

On 2 September 2026, the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) received three complete dialysis machines donated through His Love Foundation. UBTH’s Chief Medical Director, Prof Idia Ize-Iyamu, said the donation would complement government investment in healthcare.

Next comes Asaba.

The Enoch and Folu Adeboye Dialysis Centre at the Federal Medical Centre is expected to increase the hospital’s capacity to provide dialysis treatment to patients in Delta State and surrounding communities.

Taken together, the UBTH donation and the scheduled Asaba commissioning demonstrate that kidney care remains an active component of the Foundation’s healthcare strategy.

But commissioning is only the beginning

For all the significance of new machines and facilities, the deeper question for Nigeria’s healthcare system is sustainability. A dialysis centre requires more than infrastructure. Machines need maintenance. Patients require regular treatment. Medical personnel must be available. Water purification systems must function. Electricity must be reliable. Consumables must remain available. The same applies to intensive care units, where equipment without trained personnel, medicines, electricity and other supporting infrastructure cannot, on its own, guarantee effective critical care.

That makes the relationship between His Love Foundation and the hospitals receiving its interventions particularly important.

The Foundation has generally positioned its projects as interventions within existing healthcare institutions rather than attempts to replace the public health system. In several cases, equipment and facilities are handed over to government-owned hospitals, where they become part of the institutions’ wider healthcare capacity.

This raises a broader question for healthcare in Nigeria: how can philanthropy, faith-based organisations and government work together to ensure that donated infrastructure remains functional long after the commissioning ceremony?

The answer could determine the long-term value of projects such as the Asaba centre.

From outreach to infrastructure

There has also been a significant evolution in the nature of RCCG’s healthcare interventions. Medical outreaches can provide immediate relief through consultations, screenings, medicines and referrals. Infrastructure projects operate differently. A dialysis machine can serve patients repeatedly over many years if it is properly maintained and supported. An ICU can continuously receive critically ill patients. An X-ray facility can become part of the diagnostic pathway of an entire hospital.

That difference can turn a one-day intervention into a long-term contribution to healthcare capacity. It also explains why the Foundation’s expanding portfolio is worth examining beyond the language of charity.

The question is not simply how much was donated or how many projects were commissioned. It is how many patients ultimately receive treatment because those interventions exist.

A faith-based response to a public need

His Love Foundation emerged from RCCG’s Christian Social Responsibility activities and works across several areas beyond healthcare, including hunger, education, social enterprise, rehabilitation, and interventions in correctional facilities. Its stated approach centres on addressing social needs through practical projects.

Healthcare has become one of its most visible areas of intervention because the gaps are tangible.

A patient waiting for dialysis does not need an abstract promise. The patient needs a functioning machine. A critically ill patient needs an ICU bed, trained personnel and the equipment required to keep that bed operational. And for someone at risk of cancer, access to screening can mean detecting the disease early enough for treatment to make a difference. That is the practical space in which His Love Foundation’s healthcare interventions operate.

The commissioning scheduled for 24 September in Asaba will therefore represent more than another ceremony on the Foundation’s calendar. It will add another facility to a healthcare programme that has gradually moved from individual medical outreaches towards investment in specialised health infrastructure. Whether that infrastructure ultimately translates into sustained access to care will depend not only on the Foundation’s intervention, but also on the hospitals, healthcare professionals and government agencies responsible for keeping the facilities operational.

For the patient sitting in a dialysis chair, however, the calculation is much simpler. There is a machine. There is a hospital. And there is another opportunity to receive treatment.