Book Review: Is This the Cure? A Look into Healing Nigeria By Hanniel Noboh
It has often been said that Nigeria is a country blessed with abundant natural resources, but one critical resource is frequently overlooked—its people. Ill health remains a silent soldier quietly eroding the strength of the nation’s population. While public conversations about Nigeria’s challenges often focus on oil, corruption, or security, the state of healthcare is rarely given equal urgency. This is why Healing Nigeria: A Chronicle of Health Reforms by Lawal Dahiru Mamman and Maimuna Katuka Aliyu is such a significant intervention.
The 156-page book is more than an account of policies introduced under the stewardship of Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate. It is a chronicle of Nigeria’s health crisis, reform agenda, and progress, framed not only in terms of government action but also in the broader context of how reforms affect citizens. What makes the book distinctive is its structured and deliberate argument for hope. In a sector long dominated by narratives of collapse, this work insists that Nigeria’s health system can indeed be healed, provided reforms are anchored in dignity, access, and innovation.
The book is divided into two main sections: “Healing Nigeria” and “Health Days.” The first explores the central reforms spearheaded by Pate’s administration, including tackling brain drain, promoting healthcare industrialization, and responding to epidemics. The second adopts an innovative approach by using international health observances—such as World Hearing Day, World Sleep Day, and others—as thematic entry points into Nigeria’s health challenges. This dual structure gives the book both analytical depth and narrative variety, allowing it to function simultaneously as a policy review and an advocacy tool.
One of the most impressive aspects of this structure is how seamlessly the authors connect local issues to global themes. For example, a chapter on World Sleep Day becomes an avenue to discuss why rest should be prioritized in a country where stress-related health conditions are on the rise. Similarly, female genital mutilation is framed not just as a Nigerian problem but as part of broader global struggles for women’s health. This method prevents the book from feeling like a dry policy manual; instead, it reads as an engaging and accessible guide that connects ordinary Nigerians to global health conversations.
The strength of this framework is that it makes complex policies understandable to the general public. A casual reader may be drawn to a chapter about sleep or hearing, only to find themselves exposed to discussions about digital health records or epidemic preparedness. In this way, the book educates readers on a wide range of issues they might not otherwise encounter. It also doubles as an informal guide to international health days, raising awareness about their significance and how they can be localized to Nigeria’s context.
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However, this method also comes with risks. The emphasis on advocacy and awareness sometimes leans more toward celebration than critique. Health experts or policy analysts may wish for deeper scrutiny of certain reforms or stronger interrogation of their sustainability. While the book does provide more than surface-level information, its tone occasionally borders on promotional—especially in its opening chapter, “Homecoming for a Celebrated Physician,” which reads more like a tribute to Professor Pate’s distinguished career than a neutral analysis of reforms. The admiration is understandable, given Pate’s global stature, but it risks overshadowing the book’s broader narrative.
Despite this, the book’s coherence and insider detail make it an invaluable contribution. The authors carefully illustrate how reforms are interconnected. For example, the discussion on halting healthcare brain drain is directly linked to improving maternal care outcomes. Digitalization initiatives described between pages 62 and 66 are shown to support epidemic response strategies outlined earlier in the book. This recurring emphasis on interconnectedness reinforces the central argument: a resilient health system cannot rely on piecemeal initiatives but must be built on a synchronized network of reforms.
The book also benefits from the insider knowledge of its authors, who clearly understand the machinery of policy and the challenges of implementation. This perspective gives it value not just for Nigerian readers but also for other developing countries grappling with similar health system crises. At the same time, the celebratory tone means it may be read more as a record of achievements than as a rigorous critique. Still, for a nation where pessimism often dominates discourse, this hopeful perspective may be exactly what is needed to inspire engagement.
What ultimately makes Healing Nigeria stand out is its narrative innovation. By tethering local reforms to global observances and by weaving personal, national, and international perspectives together, Mamman and Aliyu have produced a work that is simultaneously Nigeria-specific and globally relevant. It does not simply describe Nigeria’s health challenges; it situates them within a worldwide struggle for equitable health futures.
The book is highly recommended for a wide audience. Policymakers will find in it a guide to understanding how reforms are perceived and interconnected. Public health students can learn from its unique use of advocacy communication. Journalists will discover a resource for reporting on the complex intersections of health issues. And global citizens will see in Nigeria’s struggles a mirror of the universal fight for accessible, dignified, and innovative healthcare.
In conclusion, Healing Nigeria: A Chronicle of Health Reforms, published by Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), is a groundbreaking contribution to African health policy literature. While not without its limitations, it succeeds in documenting a critical juncture in Nigeria’s health sector with narrative flair and intellectual creativity. By reframing healthcare not as a hopeless burden but as a site of reform, resilience, and possibility, it challenges Nigerians—and by extension, other developing nations—to recognize that healing is possible. The book stands as both a chronicle and a call to action: that with dignity, access, innovation, and accountability, Nigeria’s path to a healthier future is within reach.
Hanniel Noboh is a Mass Communication Student at Nile University currently an intern at PR Nigeria. She can be reached via [email protected]
