HIV/AIDS and Development in Nigeria

I’m no expert on this issue but just a concerned citizen trying to seek answers to this growing problem facing our country. I’ll attempt to look at the pernicious effects of this dreaded disease (HIV/AIDS) on the growth and development of Africa’s most populous nation. I’ve heard (and also seen first hand) so much about this pandemic over the radio, television, internet and bill boards. It beats my imagination why any one in his right senses would want to indulge in any act that would endanger his life or even lead to the contraction of this much talked about disease. I’ll like to reiterate that this piece of article is simply an attempt to shed light on this problem and is in no way an expert analysis but simply my humble contribution to further steer a healthy debate, argument (s) as well as some solutions. What then are the implications of HIV/AIDS on growth & development in Nigeria? What solutions are needed to nip this problem in the bud before it degenerates into a full blown crisis (if it hasn’t done so already). There might be several factors fueling the spread of this disease some of which are: peer pressure, dearth of morals, inadequate (lack) of sex education at the family level. In Nigeria, there seems to be so much awareness about this deadly disease yet people still get infected in droves. Who’s to blame for this and why?

There’s a lot of stigma associated with being an HIV/AIDS patient in our contemporary African society. As a result of this most people who are already infected prefer to hide in their closets or keep mute instead of helping in creating awareness about the disease. There are several ways by which the virus can be transmitted from one person to another, mostly through a cut by sharp objects, blood transfusion, mother to child transmission during pregnancy and child birth, and of course through unprotected (protected) sexual intercourse. A lot of research and studies has been conducted about this topic but it still remains a hotly contested issue that is fraught with a lot claims and counter claims amongst scientists, scholars, policy makers and religious groups. Some groups (Churches) have called for abstinence while some researchers/scholars have argued that the use of condoms and other contraceptives is (not) perfectly (100%) safe. There’s also been several “false and misleading claims” by individuals who claim to have found a cure for the disease but all (most) of these claims have been erroneous and have not been medically proven to be true till date. I’ll prefer to sit on the fence on some of these issues that I’ll talk about here and not jump into premature conclusions. It’s left for us to follow our hearts and make decisions and judgments based on what our beliefs and philosophies are.


The Nigerian government realizing the scale and magnitude of this disease especially among the youth has set up an agency called the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA), as well as a massive information campaign to create awareness about this disease. I’m still yet to read up on what the role of this agency is but I’ll like to make an “intelligent” guess here. I’ll guess that the agency is saddled with the responsibility of coordinating the efforts of all the stakeholders (government, private sector, NGO’s and International donors) One can’t say for sure if the campaign over the mass media has yielded any dividends or translated into any tangible results since data/statistics from the concerned agency (ies) aren’t readily available or limited.

International donor agencies and Western governments have also pledged and given huge sums of money to combat this pandemic. Some of these resources are lost to some NGO’s set up by unscrupulous individuals and groups with the sole intent of siphoning donor funds into their pockets. I suppose these lucrative donor funds also accounts for the multitude of HIV/AIDS NGO’s that are springing up on a daily basis. It therefore becomes imperative to establish the right monitoring, evaluation and targeting schemes to ensure that HIV/AIDS patients are well taken of.

Government spending on HIV/AIDS would put more strain on the meager resources available in its coffers. Given the plethora of responsibilities that lies on the shoulders of the government, spending on HIV/AIDS programs might lead to a reduction in government’s spending on other social services desperately needed by the citizens. More often than not, the government spends on the importation of Anti-retroviral (ARV) medications which are often subsidized for HIV/AIDS patients. However, we can also put forward the argument that fighting this disease to a stand still by the government will boost government revenues in the long run. As the saying goes “a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.”

Moreso, the big pharmaceutical companies that have got the patent for these expensive medications aren’t also helping matters here. These companies would often use their clout to quench any attempt to provide the generic versions of the ARV medications at cheaper rates to the beneficiaries in developing countries (including Nigeria). In this regard, I’ll like to say that while Western governments have donated billions of dollars to fight this menace they short change us through the huge profits their pharmaceutical companies send back to their home countries. This simply amounts to a situation where an individual is filling up a leaking bowl or jar with water knowing fully well the exact spot of leakage yet he/she keeps filling it. I consider this to be very unfair!

The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS has a direct impact on the country’s human capital base. The importance and benefit of education to a country’s development is non-negotiable and cannot be over-emphasized. Any nation that is sincere about ascending the ladder of economic, social and political development ought to place primary importance to the well being of its citizenry. Here education should be seen as the engine that’s needed to propel a country to development and lift its people out of poverty. Without it other aspects of development that are tied to it would disintegrate and collapse. Loss of human lives, no doubt would lead to a depletion of a country’s human capital base. It might also affect growth of the economy since the productive members of the society are lost to the disease. Empirical evidence shows that most people that are infected fall between the ages of 16 to 44 which is largely the productive work force of the population.

It might also exacerbate poverty especially among young dependents of HIV/AIDS patients who’ll be left to fend for themselves. It’s an uncontestable but yet debatable fact that children (orphans) whose parents (bread winners) die from HIV/AIDS complications are hit hard by poverty. Since it’s believed that the vast majority of Nigerians are living below the poverty line (if the figures are to be believed), families with infected members will have to spend the little money at their disposal on ARV which otherwise would have been used to put food on the table.

Sex education or topics between parents and their children are off-limits (“no-no”) in most traditional and even modern Nigerian homes. This in my opinion is wrong because if our youths are armed with the necessary information at the right age, it might also help in reducing the prevalence of this pandemic. What’s the right age for parents to discuss this issue with their children? I think it would be totally up to the parents to decide when to discuss such issues with their wards. Some folks might argue that this would worsen the problem since some kids would attempt to experiment with sex. This is true on one hand and false on the other. This is left for us to judge for ourselves and is largely situation specific and dependent on so many other variables.

The scourge of HIV/AIDS can also lead to an increase in social vices and crime wave. If the individuals who lost one/both parents to the disease can’t find productive ventures to engage themselves in, they’ll be left with little or no choice but to resort to stealing and armed robbery.

Curbing (eradication isn't impossible) this pandemic will require waging a war against it on several fronts by all the concerned stakeholders. Also, policies should be crafted to stop the discrimination of people living with this virus as long as it doesn’t constitute a danger to public health or safety. Religious institutions and families also have the daunting task of values formation especially among our youths. Lastly people should go get tested, since I suppose the awareness is already there.