Public health advocate, Dr Mcphalane Ejah, has warned that Nigeria is “sitting on a keg of gunpowder” due to growing youth ignorance about HIV.
Ejah, who chairs the Prevention Technical Working Group on HIV in Cross River State, issued the warning on Monday in Calabar during an interview with reporters.
He said World AIDS Day, observed annually on Dec. 1, remained critical for honoring victims, supporting people living with HIV, combating stigma and promoting prevention.
Ejah expressed concern that many young people now doubt the existence of HIV because they rarely encounter awareness messages on radio, billboards or community platforms.
According to him, there is no deliberate effort to provide youth-friendly HIV information, despite young people spending significant time on digital media platforms.
He warned that excluding young people from HIV response plans leaves a large and vulnerable population exposed to avoidable risk.
Ejah also said widespread claims of funding masked the reality that civil society organizations lacked actual support, leaving essential interventions underfunded.
He cautioned that without urgent attention, national HIV efforts would remain ineffective and largely symbolic, with minimal real-world impact.
Identifying weak political commitment as a major barrier, he said state HIV agencies operated with insufficient budgets, and even approved funds were often not released.
“Government agencies now depend on foreign partners, making the national HIV response partner-driven rather than government-led,” he said.
He stressed that agencies could not coordinate or monitor interventions when unable to finance their basic operational needs.
Ejah added that Nigeria’s HIV response continued to be undermined by inadequate funding and what he described as “cosmetic commitment” at both federal and state levels.
He noted that although the country once demonstrated strong resolve, current funding levels were insufficient to support meaningful prevention and intervention efforts.
