HEALTHCARE AND SYSTEMIC CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA

This paper, titled "Healthcare and Systemic Challenges in Nigeria", examines critical systemic hurdles that cause the Nigerian healthcare sector to operate far below the capacity necessary to sustain a productive workforce and a functional effective system. As of 2025, while the government has initiated reforms like the National Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), the system remains constrained by chronic underfunding, a massive "brain drain" of professionals, and dilapidated infrastructure. This paper investigates the Structure and Functions ofHealthcare as well as its Systemic Challenges in Nigeria. However, the study employed a qualitative research method through the use of a secondary source of data for proper analysis. To this effects, the study adopts, Gabriel Almond's structural functionalism theory to examine how different institutions (structures) contribute to overall societal health (function), identifying multiple challenges as dysfunctions that disrupt the system's equilibrium and lead to poor health outcomes. Therefore, the paperfinds out that, the Nigerian healthcare system is beleaguered by systemic challenges, including leadership deficiencies, endemic corruption, significant mass emigration of healthcare professionals (brain drain), chronic underfunding, and deteriorating healthcare infrastructure; these, in turn, lead to poor service delivery and suboptimal health outcomes for the population. This paper advocates for responsible leadership, as well as enhancing the capacity and institutional autonomy of anti-corruption agencies to effectively investigate and mitigate corruption. Furthermore, it calls for increased budgetary allocations to the health sector, substantial investments in modern medical infrastructure, and significantly improved training, remuneration, and incentives for healthcare professionals