An Appraisal of the Right to Health in Nigeria

In this paper, an attempt is made to give emphasis to the right to health, otherwise known as the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. It is a jurisprudential journey taken in a bid to critically appraise the right to health, both in the International, Regional and National contexts. This being the case, an attempt is made to delineate between the boundaries of what the right to health entails and what it does not entail; as well as its relationship with other human rights. It also appraises the posture of Nigeria to its International and regional obligations under International and regional regimes to which the nation is legally committed. It does not fail to consider the legislative measures taken by Nigeria in light of its obligation to its citizens on the subject of this right as well as outlining what is least expected of any nation in the protection, respect and fulfillment of the right to health of the vulnerable groups of the society. One would also find lessons drawn from quintessential nations who modeled good governance and responsiveness in helping their nations escape the conundrum of the latest virus – covid-19. In the end, recommendations are extracted from these lessons to point Nigeria towards a better direction with regards to its obligations on the subject matter.