On February 28th, the Nigerian government confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Nigeria — marking the first case in sub-Saharan Africa. While health authorities at state and federal levels are taking action to isolate and contain the virus, this incident is a reminder that diseases do not recognize or respect borders, especially in our interconnected world, and strong, well-resourced healthcare systems are necessary for outbreak preparedness.
Unfortunately, Nigeria’s public health system is under-resourced and overwhelmed, resulting in poor health...
Health
Despite global health progress, many are still left behind, including women and girls. We have a long way to go to end maternal and child deaths and stop gender-based violence. Across the world, it is estimated that more than 200 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation. And all women are yet to get access to voluntary family planning: an estimated 232 million women in developing countries want to prevent pregnancy, but are not using...
Tens of thousands of young Nigerians joined ONE’s #VoteYourFuture campaign in the run-up to elections, and it's just the beginning...
Three thousand young people from across Nigeria gathered in the capital Abuja in October to launch #VoteYourFuture and tell Nigerian leaders “we count”. And they’re going to prove it during presidential elections in February 2019 when they cast their votes.
#VoteYourFuture is about young people creating the future they want to see. It’s about making every vote count by understanding the issues that affect Nigeria. And, it’s about voting for a President based on their policies, not who they are.
There...
This story was originally reported by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and edited by Claire Cozens for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Whenever the all-female Nigerian biker group D'Angels hit the streets, people would stare in amazement at the sight of women on motorbikes. So they made up their minds to use the attention for a good cause.
Enter the Female Bikers Initiative (FBI), which has already provided free breast and cervical cancer screening to 500 women in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos.
This August, D'Angels...
This is what happened when we decided to tract the impact of health funding on local communities across Nigeria.
Makoko has the dubious honour of being dubbed the world’s largest floating slum: up to 300 000 people are said to live here – in full view of every person stuck in the notorious Lagos traffic on Third Mainland Bridge. Some view the settlement as an eyesore, and there have been repeated attempts to move parts of the community, sometimes by force.
The air is prickly with tension when we arrive. We learn that a community dispute erupted in violence...
A woman’s chance of dying from pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 13 in Nigeria, so Adepeju Jaiyeoba decided to do something about it.
As global leaders meet in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the scale of humanitarian assistance required in North East Nigeria and the Lake Chad region resulting from the Boko Haram insurgency needs urgent, high-level attention.
"Someone once said to me, ‘Chinasa: why do you always exude this strong, nothing gets to me attitude, but are fragile when defending something you believe in?"