By Waziri Isa Adam – Education Monitor
A scholar in the faculty of Communication and Media Studies, University of Lagos, Professor Ifeoma Amobi, has voiced concern over the growing spread of health misinformation in Nigeria, warning that it “often spreads faster than verified information across social media platforms, messaging apps like WhatsApp, and, at times, even traditional media” in an interview with Education Monitor in Lagos.
She explained that her research interests are rooted in online and multimedia journalism, social media, and health communication “in an information disordered media landscape,” areas that “have shaped my identity as a Professor of Digital and Health Communication.”
Professor Amobi outlined the recurring forms of health misinformation in the country. “It includes conspiracy theories about vaccines—such as claims that they are designed by Western powers to cause infertility, control African populations, alter human genetics, or are linked to apocalyptic narratives like the ‘antichrist’ or ‘666’,” she said.
She added that during disease outbreaks, false information often appears as “so-called miracle cures or the misidentification of diseases.”
The Professor also highlighted cultural beliefs that undermine public health. “There are also deeply rooted misconceptions about chronic conditions. For example, mental health issues are frequently attributed to spiritual causes rather than understood as treatable medical conditions, which can lead individuals to prioritise prayer over professional care,” she said.
She cited other harmful cultural and lifestyle myths. “Cultural and lifestyle myths further complicate public health outcomes—such as beliefs that eating eggs during pregnancy leads to oversized babies, or that pregnancies should be concealed to avoid spiritual harm, resulting in delayed antenatal care,” Professor Amobi said.
She further noted the dangers of assumptions around medication. “Similarly, the widespread assumption that all herbal remedies (‘agbo’) are inherently safe, or that injections are always more effective than tablets, contributes to harmful practices, including drug misuse and antimicrobial resistance,” she said.
Professor Amobi stressed the consequences of these patterns. “These patterns of misinformation have significant consequences, including vaccine hesitancy, outright rejection of life-saving interventions, and the adoption of dangerous, unproven treatments,” she said.
She called for urgent action to address the challenge. “While achieving complete information integrity may be an ideal, my findings suggest that Nigeria must urgently prioritise the development of a safe, open, and trustworthy information ecosystem to support public health,” Professor Amobi said.
To achieve this, she advocated a coordinated response. “This requires a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approachbringing together government, media, health professionals, technology platforms, and civil society to combat what I describe as ‘infotamination’ and to promote healthier behavioural outcomes,” she said.