COVID-19 AND THE RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE IN NIGERIA: AN ANALYSIS OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION (AS AMENDED)

Abstract

Contemporary Nigeria is characterized with an inadequate healthcare system, which has taken a worrisome dimension and has led to the mass exodus of Nigerian doctors to more developed countries. This reality has become the subject of discussion in recent times following the current travel restrictions across the world due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Healthcare facilities across Nigeria are convincingly not enough to contain the spread of COVID-19; and the healthcare workers are poorly remunerated and insured to motivate an adequate response, especially in a time of public health emergency. In this paper, the COVID-19 public health emergency is examined under the auspices of Nigerian constitutional human rights provisions in order to ascertain whether critical related international human rights are respected in Nigeria. The paper recommends among other things that Nigeria constitution should be amended to recognise the right to healthcare as an enforceable right, which implies the legislative expansion of government responsibilities to provide healthcare facilities and protection of healthcare workers at all time.