World Maleria Day....HIGH CHIEF PROF MIKE OZEKHOME, SAN, CON, OFR OZEKHOME URGES NIGERIA, AFRICA TO BOOST INVESTMENT IN MALARIA FIGHT
“Malaria is a silent killer that has declared war on Africa, yet we treat it with whispers when we should respond with thunder.”
That was the charge from High Chief Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, CON, OFR, as he called on Nigerian and African governments to invest more in the global fight against malaria.
Speaking in commemoration of World Malaria Day, the nation builder, philanthropist, and human rights activist decried the fact that young children and adults still die daily from malaria across the continent. He described the disease as both a health crisis and a human rights issue, stressing that every preventable death is an indictment on leadership and governance. For Ozekhome, Africa’s development will remain stunted if malaria continues to claim its most vulnerable citizens.
Prof. Ozekhome argued that governments must move from rhetoric to resources. He urged increased budgetary allocation to health, local manufacturing of anti-malaria drugs and vaccines, and massive environmental sanitation programs to destroy mosquito breeding grounds. According to him, Nigeria and Africa cannot outsource the battle against malaria to foreign donors while lives are lost at home. “Sovereignty means responsibility,” he said, “and no government is responsible if its people die from mosquito bites.”
The legal luminary also linked malaria to poverty, poor education, and economic loss. He noted that the disease keeps children out of school, workers out of jobs, and drains household incomes on treatment. As a philanthropist who has funded health and education interventions, Ozekhome called for public-private partnerships to expand access to insecticide-treated nets, rapid diagnostics, and community health education, especially in rural areas where the burden is heaviest.
As the world marks World Malaria Day on April 25, Ozekhome’s message to African leaders is unambiguous: declare malaria a national emergency and fund the fight like one. “A nation that cannot protect its children from mosquitoes cannot protect its future,” he warned. “Invest in health today, or spend tomorrow burying potential.”
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