{"id":5206,"date":"2010-10-21T14:57:50","date_gmt":"2010-10-21T13:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=5206"},"modified":"2010-10-21T14:57:50","modified_gmt":"2010-10-21T13:57:50","slug":"ike-anya-on-awakening-nigerias-sleeping-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2010\/10\/21\/ike-anya-on-awakening-nigerias-sleeping-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Ike Anya on awakening Nigeria’s sleeping giant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ike A major milestone passed in October this year, when Nigerians marked 50 years of independence<\/a>. While our government celebrated, most Nigerians reflected on why the country had not fulfilled the great hopes engendered by the handover ceremonies in Lagos fifty years ago.<\/p>\n


\n\u00a0From a turbulent past marked by a sudden end to colonialism, a civil war, a series of coups and\u00a0periods of military rule, Nigeria today is experiencing\u00a0a sustained period of relative stability, peace, and civilian government. Some of these changes are reflected in the steady\u00a0economic growth, large reduction in external debt, and structural reforms of the financial and telecommunications sectors that are hallmarks of\u00a0the last decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These changes have resulted\u00a0in massive increased access to mobile phones and improved banking services, but the\u00a0impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians has been minimal.<\/p>\n

From a health perspective, there are still many challenges. The health systems are weak, immunisation coverage is poor, and prospects of achieving the\u00a0millennium development goals\u00a0<\/a>are remote.<\/p>\n

Perhaps because of our large population, Nigerians can be found all over the world. Meeting Nigerians working in public health at international conferences and meetings was the stimulus for founding the Nigerian public health network a few years ago.<\/p>\n

The network now consists of over two hundred members working all over the world, including in Nigeria; and in our electronic conversations, it emerged that there were a large number of initiatives aiming to improve health in Nigeria, a broad range of expertise and skills, and a keen interest in engaging in the onerous task of improving health in Nigeria. Out of this network has emerged the Public Health Foundation of Nigeria<\/a>, a new foundation with 3 main goals:<\/p>\n