Linus Unah is a Nigerian journalist covering global health, conflict, agriculture, and development. His work has appeared in The Guardian, IRIN, NPR, NewsDeeply, The Christian Science Monitor, among others.
“We are still drinking the [contaminated] water,” says King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community. “That is the extent of the damage.”
Dr. Adeola Adekunle is already a senior resident doctor and trainee surgeon. But he did not get there alone. His success is a product of constant learning and training — even in the midst of a pandemic.
Nigeria is under pressure to declare a national health emergency as it endeavors to contain its largest recorded outbreak of Lassa fever, which has killed 161 people this year.
Without a national coordinating body or agency to oversee mental health care, or run anti-stigma and psychoeducation initiatives, more nonprofits are springing up to close the gap.
To combat cholera, WHO has been collaborating with the government to set up an emergency operation center with pillars including case management, active case search, and social mobilization, as well as WASH services. But with more than 13,000 cases since January, the work is far from over.
Nigeria imports $20 billion in food each year, even as its farmers struggle to get by. To address the gap, a number of agritech startups have appeared in Nigeria of late, hoping to use a range of tools to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers and the viability of local agriculture.
An ambitious grassroots foundation offers education to hundreds of children affected by both sides of the ongoing conflict in the northeastern area of Nigeria.
