A Nigerian nephrologist estimates that 25.44 million adults may have chronic kidney disease (CKD), a projection that underscores the absence of a national registry measuring prevalence.
Professor Fatiu Abiola Arogundade presented the estimate at Obafemi Awolowo University’s 430th inaugural lecture in Ile-Ife on Sept. 22. His calculation applies a pooled 20.4% prevalence from Nigerian studies involving 14,253 participants to an estimated 124,707,102 people older than 18 at the end of 2025. That produces an estimate of 25,440,249 adults. Arogundade’s lecture says Nigeria has no national registry establishing a definitive countrywide prevalence, so the figure is an extrapolation rather than a registry count.
A 2020 survey of 1,353 adults across eight urban communities in Kwara State reported age-adjusted CKD prevalence of 12%. Its authors said volunteer participation meant the sample might not represent the wider community.
A study published in 2024 in the African Journal of Nephrology reported kidney dysfunction in 13.7% of 4,313 adults screened at 36 facilities in 2022. That finding measures kidney dysfunction, not the same pooled CKD prevalence used in Arogundade’s calculation. The study authors said that volunteer selection and one-time tests could produce an overestimate. They also cautioned that the sample’s urban concentration may limit how well the findings represent rural communities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says CKD may go unnoticed until it is advanced. Its guidance describes blood tests for serum creatinine and urine tests for albumin as ways to detect kidney problems. It says CKD is indicated by two eGFR readings below 60 at least 90 days apart, or persistent elevation of urinary albumin; diabetes and hypertension are among the listed causes.
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health said on Aug. 20, 2025, that a pilot subsidy cut the price of a dialysis session from ₦50,000 to ₦12,000 at 11 federal tertiary hospitals. The ministry said the program was intended to ease financial strain, particularly for vulnerable patients. It planned to add hospitals but gave no expansion date or patient total.
Arogundade called for a national kidney-care policy and screening through primary health care. His lecture did not set a timetable for those recommendations.
