Few days ago, the United Nations ranked Nigeria as the lowest life expectancy country in the world.
The ranking is released by UN agency in its 2025 population data from the United Nations World Population Prospects.
According to the new report, the average life expectancy in Africa most populous country is 54.9 years.
This is slightly below 2024 ranking which showed 54.6 years.
The report also showed a far cry from the global threshold of 73.7 years.
While Nigerian men live an average of 54.3 years, their women live slightly longer at 54.9 years.
WITHIN NIGERIA gathered the new has placed Nigeria at the bottom of a list of 25 countries with the shortest lifespans.
Details of the report showed that Nigeria is now below Chad which has 55.2 years even as South Sudan, and the Central African Republic 57.7 years respectively.
The UN report further explained that 22 out of the 25 countries with the lowest life expectancy are in sub-Saharan Africa.
It showed that Lesotho has 57.8 years, Somalia 59.0 years, and Mali 60.7 years.
Factors fuelling low life expectancy in Nigeria
According to WITHIN NIGERIA investigations, many Factors are responsible for Nigeria’s low performance in the global life expectancy index record.
Such factors include widespread disease burdens, lack of access to quality healthcare, poverty and economic inequality, poor sanitation and hygiene, and unhealthy lifestyle choices like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.
Further checks also showed that environmental factors such like air pollution also contribute, alongside societal issues like banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other security issues.
Not left behind is also, a high burden of chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes, accidents and others.
Health-related factors
In Nigeria with a population of over two hundred million persons, virtually seventy percent of the citizens has one health challenge or the other.
What worsens the matter is that about 80% of the population is living in poverty with no access to basic health care.
Many of whom are at the mercy of patent medicine dealers, herbal doctors and other medically illiterate health care givers when faced with medical challenge.
A damning report recently released by the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS showed that only 5% of Nigerians are enrolled in the scheme.
In Nigeria, it was also revealed that significant number of deaths are linked to preventable or treatable diseases, including malaria, pneumonia, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
In the face of such ugly situation, the country is also bedeviled with lack of functional, well-equipped hospitals and healthcare facilities which has hindered timely diagnosis and treatment.
Crawling behind this is the high rates of maternal mortality.
A country like Nigeria which falls among the highest child mortality rates significantly reduce life expectancy in affected regions.
Diabetes, hypertension:
In Nigeria, like in any other countries with low life expectancy, many people “after a brief illness”. This, no doubt is linked to heart disease. Again, diabetes, and obesity are also linked to higher mortality rates and lower life expectancy.
Socioeconomic & Environmental Factors
In the face of Low income, coupled with poverty, limits access to nutritious food, clean water, sanitation, and adequate housing, there is bound to be low life expectancy in such a country.
Poor Sanitation and Unclean Environments:
In many so-called cities and towns in Nigeria, there is virtually no potable water. The Nigerian populace relies heavily on borehole and sachet water for their daily water usage. Many of such borehole are not checked hygienically by the authorities concerned. This contributes to some water-borne diseases.
Societal Issues:
In Nigeria, there is no day that passes without reported case of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping in virtually all the geopolitical zones of the country.
As this happens, many young and old lives are lost to it. In fact, countless lives are being lost on daily basis on account of growing incidence of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other acts of insecurity across the country.
Added to this also is the fact that many communities are at war with their boundary communities over a piece of land.
These acts of insecurity, no doubt, reduces life expectancy of affected countries.
Unhealthy Habits: For lack of adequate knowledge of health implications, many Nigerians especially the youths engage in high alcohol consumption. This no doubt, contributes to low life expectancy.
Again, lack of regular physical activity contributes to increased mortality from chronic diseases which in turn leads to low life expectancy.
A diet lacking fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and high in unhealthy fats, increases the risk of chronic diseases.
High maternal and infant deaths, poor healthcare access, and insecurity in some regions continue to affect life expectancy in Nigeria.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the main causes of death globally include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, and mental health conditions.
Peter Obi on Life Expectancy
Reacting to the development, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi has described the situation as alarming.
According to Mr. Obi, “when you want to measure this Human Development Index, the most critical measure number one is Health – life expectancy.
“Life expectancy as we know today in Nigeria is among the lowest in the world. We are about 65 years, compared to India at about 70, Bangladesh at about 72, Egypt at about 71, and the Philippines at about 70,” Obi stated.
He enumerated a lot of issues bedeviling Nigeria’s healthcare system, to include the country’s near nonfunctioning primary healthcare facilities, alarmingly high infant mortality rates.
He also lamented that the majority of drugs are imported, and this made the cost of such drugs so high and out of reach for majority of the citizens.
“Many people with many illnesses can no longer be able to afford treatment. Nigerians now spend more than their income on food because everything has tripled.”
In its defence, the Federal Ministry of Health has promised to improve public health facilities and at the same time expand universal health coverage, but progress has been slow.
The minister of Health, Mr. Muhammad Ali Pate said the administration of Mr. Bola Tinubu is poised towards restoring health care facilities in the country in a bid towards boosting the health of the citizens.
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