E-Business
Understanding Data ‘Openness’ Impact in Nigeria’s Health Sector
Of all the public sector issues in Nigeria, that of health has grown quite notorious. The government, resident doctors and other public healthcare personals in several health institutions have continued to have series of show downs in form of strike actions.
Recent strikes by Neuro-psychiatric hospital Yaba, Federal Medical Center Owerri, LAUTECH Oshogbo and University College Hospital Ibadan (UCH) collectively sum up to a year and six months, and before that, data shows that recent years have not been without these showdowns which have become the order of the day.
Although the government ends up settling, the situation of things seem not to change, because after a while another strike action happens, and then the circular dance of economic shame continues.
When these strikes take place, the participants give remuneration, dilapidated facilities, power, insufficient resources, casualization, broken down equipments, not enough man power amongst others issues as reasons for the showdown.
But one wonders why after every settlement, the status quo remains.
A recent Nigeria Healthwatch article threw more light on this. That even after the government reaches a compromise with the striking groups, and salaries increased, there is still no change in quality of service delivery, reasons being that the complexity of healthcare and unavailability of relevant data makes accountability, transparency and impact measurement uneasy.
It behoves one to know that the public healthcare professionals in Nigeria are without contract or specification that states clinical expectations, terms of the service to be delivered e.g number of cases that must be attended to or patients that must be seen.
Furthermore it will wow you to know that crucial indicators like work-flow, quality, outcome and patient satisfaction are not in place.
There are no set standards in public health delivery, meaning there are no means of evaluating the allocations from the Federal Ministry of Health as well as its quarterly allocation from the National Health Insurance Scheme versus service delivered.
Zero value for money assessment, due to little or zero data, thus giving insights as to why the sector is in this mess.
Meanwhile as Africa’s biggest economy Nigeria continues to wallop in this despond, the world has left her behind.
Economies have begun data revolutions, patients are accessing their healthcare records and are comparing costs versus effectiveness, providers are mining and harnessing performance indicators across institutions, physicians are increasing cost-efficiency, researchers are accessing clinical data.
Health institutions performance, choice, accountability, decision-making and other healthy behaviors have increase and improved.
These digital economies have realized the impact that could be made when technology is leveraged to transform data into knowledge and so everyday they create systems driven by technology to spur interconnectivity; where machines and humans are transacting, collaborating, and participating in shared value creation towards opportunities, innovation, growth and development.
Back in Nigeria, we know the tale, we are willing to mimic many lifestyles of other economies, but we have refused to depart from our legacy and bureaucratic environments into a more patient-friendly digital system like they have.
In January 2014, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and NHS England signed a bi-lateral agreement form then use and sharing of health data, tools and services towards increasing transparency and openness in government.
Since then thousands of data sets have been made available for public consumption which in turn has spiraled the emergence of several innovations.
Some of these platforms include;
A. those that leverage mortality datasets to improve accountability at hospital level thereby identifying hospitals with abnormally high mortality rates, and poor clinical practices;
B. those on which health spending and procurement data are published;
C. those that leverage crowdsourced information to help patients choose the right care at the right time and make evidence-based, cost-effective treatment decisions aligned to personal preferences and financial constraints;
D. those that use food and drug data to maintain a knowledge pool of adverse side effects from drugs;
E. those that facilitate innovation in the field of data analysis, data visualization, service design, web and app development enabling innovation using linked health data to say but the least.
Little wonder why Nigeria looses millions of dollars to both these economies and more due to ‘medical tourism’, little wonder how our hospitals are only ‘world class’ on the pages of newspapers.
This week after battling between work stress, cold, fatigue, and wellness, I ended up in a private hospital, after seeing the doctor and getting diagnosed, I was slammed with a bill which I thought was rather high and then it dawned on me, I had no choice, no other option, there was no way I could compare the cost of the treatment with that of other private hospitals so as to make a better decision.
In today’s digital era we are able to compare the costs of lots of services and products to see that which aligns with our purse, taste and more before we make purchase due to the emergence of eCommerce and price checking platforms leveraging data, but this development and innovation has fairly extended to our healthcare systems.
It cannot be over stressed that publishing data on general health outcomes can spur competition and innovation between institutions and healthcare professionals.
Opening healthcare data to analysts and researches allows for scrutiny, question-asking on resource allocations, improves quality, monitoring of indications and consistency of evaluation.
On the patient side it can facilitate preventive healthcare, health outcomes, efficiency, and security.
However our eyes may be dazzled with show, or our ears deceived by sound; however prejudice may warp our wills, or bias darken our understanding, the simple voice of nature and of reason says that until Nigeria begins to mimic this habit of ‘openness’ from other economies, the healthcare system will continue to go the way of a downward spiral.
Blaise Aboh is co-partner at Orodata, a civic tech organization transforming government and public health sector data into insightful narratives to uphold transparency, accountability, and civic inclusion.
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has opposed a bill seeking to compel major global social media companies to establish physical offices in Nigeria.
The rights advocacy group urged the National Assembly to discard the proposed legislation, warning that it could become a tool for censorship and undermine citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of expression, despite being presented as a measure to strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy and improve corporate accountability.
The position was contained in a presentation submitted yesterday by Emmanuel Onwubiko, national coordinator, HURIWA, to the chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Ned Munir Nwoko, has already passed second reading in the Senate and is before the committee for further legislative consideration.
HURIWA said it carefully reviewed the proposed legislation and concluded that compelling global technology companies to establish offices in Nigeria was unnecessary and potentially counterproductive.
The organisation argued that while the firms generate substantial revenue from Nigeria’s vast digital market, they already engage Nigerians through existing structures, including paying eligible content creators, working with local technology professionals and participating in legal proceedings whenever required.
According to the group, appointing local representatives where necessary would adequately address concerns about engagement with regulators and users without forcing the companies to maintain physical offices.
It also dismissed claims that mandatory country offices would significantly improve consumer complaint resolution, technology transfer or employment generation.
HURIWA maintained that the platforms already have effective feedback mechanisms for resolving users’ complaints and routinely appear before Nigerian courts through their representatives whenever litigation arises.
The group, however, said its greatest concern was the potential for the proposed law to be used as an instrument for restricting freedom of expression.
It argued that establishing local offices could expose global social media companies to pressure from government authorities to remove online content considered critical of those in power.
According to the rights group, the presence of social media companies in Nigeria could become an avenue for authorities to pressure them into abandoning internationally recognised digital rights standards in favour of politically motivated content moderation.
It recalled previous attempts to regulate social media in Nigeria that generated widespread concerns over possible restrictions on free speech, stressing that any legislation affecting the digital space must contain clear safeguards against abuse.
The organisation warned that the proposed law should never become “a backdoor mechanism for government surveillance, arbitrary content removal or political censorship.
Nigeria has emerged as one of Africa’s most regulated online gambling markets, even as illegal operators continue to dominate the continent, according to a new report by Gaming Compliance International (GCI).
The report, the first comprehensive assessment of online gambling across all 54 African countries, showed that Africa’s online gambling Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) reached $23 billion in 2025.
However, only $5.2 billion (23 per cent) was generated by licensed operators, while $17.8 billion (77 per cent) remained in the unregulated market.
In West Africa, total online gambling revenue rose to $4.8 billion in 2025 from $4.3 billion in 2024. Of the 2025 figure, regulated operators accounted for $1.5 billion (31 per cent), while $3.3 billion (69 per cent) flowed to unlicensed platforms, highlighting the region’s persistent enforcement challenges.
Nigeria stood out as the region’s strongest performer, recording the lowest unregulated market share at 56 per cent, compared with the West African average of 69 per cent and the African average of 77 per cent.
The study also found that online gambling participation across Africa increased from 198 million people (13 per cent of the population) in 2024 to 215 million (14 per cent) in 2025.
Despite this growth, GCI estimated that illegal operators deprived African governments of about $3.55 billion in tax revenue in 2025. The number of unlicensed gambling platforms targeting African consumers also rose to 4,129, up from 3,644 in 2024.
Commenting on the findings, Matt Holt, chief executive officer, GCI, said the report provides regulators with the first continent-wide benchmark for strengthening oversight and consumer protection.
Ismail Vali, president, GCI, urged governments to develop competitive and well-regulated markets that encourage consumers to patronise licensed operators, boost public revenue and attract greater investment.
Online gambling in Nigeria is regulated by the Nation Lottery Regulatory Commission.
At the height of the Northern Hemisphere tourist season, demand for communications and mobile Internet services rises sharply. Kaspersky’s security experts have uncovered scams that target anyone purchasing mobile connections or SIM cards worldwide.
Fraudsters create counterfeit websites that look like the portals of major regional and international telecom providers to trick users into revealing their phone numbers, personal details or banking information.
Kaspersky is sharing several examples of these fake login pages that mimic legitimate telecom operator sites and giving recommendations on how not to be deceived.
In the first case, scammers exploit the brand name of an international telecommunications company operating services in Asia, Africa and Europe. Fake authentication pages encourage users to put in their phone number and credentials.
While the first example shows the different design, the second scam site closely mimics the original log in page, making it hard for users to tell the difference and spot a fake. Entering authentication or payment data on fraudulent web sites may result in money or data loss and become a reason for more frequent spam and fraudulent calls.
Another example is a scam page which poses as another international communications company, working in North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In this scheme scammers encourage users to top up their mobile data/Internet plans by entering their personal information and bank cards details.
Kaspersky experts have also identified a scam when cyber criminals suggest users enter their personal data to check and pay a bill inquiry. Such scam schemes are usually aimed at gaining victims’ personal data for further fraud or account hacking and stealing money.
“Because of the active use of AI, scammers can now create fake pages with ever increasing accuracy and speed, targeting the most popular user interest areas. We constantly see scams revolving around sports events, music concerts, seasonal sales and holidays. Unfortunately, the telecoms industry is no exception.
To keep your data and money safe, be vigilant when purchasing mobile or Internet plans online. Using an eSIM – purchased through an official app – is one way to avoid fake telecom sites, as it eliminates the need to enter personal details on questionable web pages.
If you’re unsure about a site’s legitimacy, search for the brand name directly in a search engine and enable a security solution that blocks phishing links for you,” comments Tatyana Kulikova, cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky.
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