Tomori Blames Poor Governance for Nigeria’s Lowest Global Life Expectancy
Korede Abdullah 
Professor Oyewale Tomori
LAGOS, Nigeria – Renowned virologist and public health expert, Professor Oyewale Tomori, has blamed Nigeria’s poor life expectancy of 54.9 years—among the world’s lowest—on weak governance, poor healthcare systems, and delayed health interventions.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Africa Health Report, (AHR) on Friday, Tomori lamented that “we talk, but they don’t listen,” adding that it is “tragic that Nigeria is competing with countries like Chad and the Central African Republic while the global average is almost twenty years higher.”
He said Nigeria’s fragile health infrastructure, high infant mortality, and preventable diseases continue to drag health outcomes backward. “We are always reactive, never proactive,” he said. “When you bring control measures after an outbreak, you’re giving medicine after death.”
Tomori, a former Vice-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, also warned that non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension—fuelled by poor diets and sedentary lifestyles—are worsening national health. “We’re copying the Western lifestyle, eating processed food instead of organic,” he noted.
He stressed the need for structural reforms beginning with functional primary healthcare and preventive care. “We are not resource-limited; we are resource-wasteful,” he said, describing a local health centre near his home as having “no bicycle, no ambulance, nothing.”
Tomori added that insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty further compound the crisis. “When you see a man walking on the street, it’s his dead body moving around,” he said, urging governments to prioritise food security, healthcare access, and citizen welfare.
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Oluwafunbi Bello 
Hussaini Ibrahim 
Otamere Gladness