By Solomon Odeniyi
The Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate, on Monday said Nigeria’s healthcare challenges cannot be solved through wishful thinking or prayers, insisting that sustainable reforms must be driven by science, research, and evidence-based policies.
Pate spoke in Abuja at the SPARK Translational Research Boot Camp Conference, where he warned that faith alone would not deliver meaningful progress across the healthcare sector without scientific discipline.
The Minister said, “To unlock the healthcare value chain, wherever it has been done, it has had to be based on science. You can’t just pray your way through it. You can’t hope your way through it. You have to have the discipline of scientific enquiry, grounded in evidence, to move across the value chain, and that ecosystem has to be in place. That is what the government can help to build, working with the private sector. Local pharmaceutical players are here, the PSN is here, and many others, including partners from outside the country, are also welcome,” he said.
He noted that global improvements in life expectancy, disease control, and quality of life were the result of sustained scientific research.
Pate said, “Science and scientific enquiry are so fundamental to the advancement of human societies. The advances we have seen in increasing life expectancy, improving quality of life, and reducing morbidity and mortality all came through scientific enquiry and the application of the scientific method.”
Pate said Nigeria is experiencing several transitions at the same time, including demographic growth, rising non-communicable diseases, economic changes and rapid technological advancement.
“Thirty or forty years ago, it was mostly about infectious diseases. Today, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers and neurological diseases now account for a significant portion of morbidity and mortality.”
He also expressed concern about the growing anti-science sentiments, including vaccine scepticism, which he said could reverse hard-won health gains.
“I say that these days we have an attention deficit — adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Because of these devices, everyone has a phone and WhatsApp, and you read the first two lines, form an opinion, and act on it. Every day. With no depth. No depth at all. And with that, the anti-science movement is beginning to spread — including the anti-vaccine movement. Technology, if not properly governed, is undermining our ability to use the very tools that help society manage change,” he warned.
Earlier, the Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Dr Obi Adigwe, in his welcome address, called for renewed global commitment to defending science against misinformation, defunding and politicisation.
He said, “Science has always triumphed over adversity. It has survived wars, inquisitions and persecutions. It has rebuilt civilisations after plagues and disasters.”
He described science as central to public health, economic growth and national security, warning governments against treating research as expendable.
Adigwe urged politicians to resist politicising scientific evidence and appealed to philanthropists and development partners to support research that directly improves lives.
“Science is not a partisan tool but a universal language of truth. Your resources must be directed toward translational efforts that reach the most vulnerable,” he said.
Nigeria’s healthcare system faces persistent challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, a rising burden of non-communicable diseases, and limited local research capacity.
Recent efforts, such as the Health Sector Real Investment Initiative, aim to strengthen governance, expand primary and tertiary healthcare services, and unlock the healthcare value chain.
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