Nigeria

New wells and latrines have reduced infant mortality in the village of Maigiginya, Nigeria [Jon Spaull]

Despite natural resources such as oil, tin, iron and coal, more than 70% of Nigeria’s population lives on less than $1 per day, and it ranks 159 in the 2006 UN human development index

Many Nigerians still don’t have access to basic needs such as health, water and sanitation, and education.

Since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999, there have been numerous, often unpredicted, violent clashes due either to ethnic and religious tensions, or access to resources such as land.

The Niger Delta region is an area of ongoing conflict, often highlighted in the media due to the kidnapping of foreign nationals working for oil companies.

Thousands have either died or been forced to flee their homes – often to neighbouring countries or to camps.

Key challenges

Health: HIV and AIDS is lowering life expectancy, with more than five million adult Nigerians estimated to be living with the disease.

Infant and maternal mortality rates are among the worst on record, especially in rural areas where almost half the women receive no antenatal care.

Child health is also a concern as the proportion of children being fully immunised has dropped dramatically in recent years. In the north, it is calculated that almost one in three children aged under five are underweight.

Education: Enrolment in primary school only averages at 60%, and this intake is mainly boys. This gender inequality continues later in life as Nigerian women struggle to gain access to land, inheritance rights and justice.

Environment: Oil pollution from the petroleum industry is the most obvious and high profile environmental concern, but others include desertification, deforestation, rapid urbanisation and the loss of arable land.

Read about the work of our partners below:

section highlights

Promoting health and hygiene

The Nigeria Primary Healthcare Programme helps people in rural northern Nigeria to improve their health and quality of life.

Making a difference: Cutting childbirth deaths

Midwives trained by the Medical Missionaries of Mary have halved deaths in childbirth

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