Overcrowding, urban growth accelerating infectious diseases in Nigeria — UNILAG VC

By Victor Adeoti

The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, says overcrowded communities in Nigeria, like those in other African countries, are accelerating the transmission of infectious diseases.

Ogunsola said this was due to limited access to clean water, sanitation, and proper waste disposal, particularly in urban centres.

She made the statement while delivering the 1st Distinguished Lecture of the Federal University of Health Sciences (FUHSI), Ila-Orangun, Osun State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture was themed, “Climate Change, Cities and Infections: The Triple Nexus Shaping Urban Health.”

Ogunsola said in many such settlements, families shared communal toilets, makeshift drainage systems, and polluted streams—conditions which turned minor infections into widespread public health threats.

“African cities are transitioning into hotspots for climate-driven infections due to the sheer speed of their expansion and the fragility of the systems meant to support them.

“As cities grow outward and upward, infrastructure such as sanitation, drainage, and healthcare services lag behind, creating environments where diseases can spread easily and rapidly.

“Our cities are expanding faster than the systems designed to protect the health of the people living in them.

“When entire communities share limited water, toilet facilities, and drainage systems, infections spread with remarkable speed,” she said.

She added that rising temperatures recorded across the continent had a direct effect on the behaviour and survival of disease-carrying vectors.

“Warmer climates allow mosquitoes, flies, and other vectors to breed faster, spread more widely, and live longer, enabling them to transmit diseases year-round rather than seasonally.

“Mosquitoes, flies, and other vectors are thriving in warmer, stagnant environments created by rapid urban growth,” the VC said.

Ogunsola also noted that air pollution had become one of the most dangerous and underestimated drivers of respiratory infections in African cities.

“With millions relying on diesel generators, firewood, and fossil fuels, exposure to polluted air weakens immunity and aggravates chronic illnesses, especially among children and the elderly,” she said.

She urged governments, institutions, and communities to collaborate and adopt proactive measures to safeguard the continent’s future.

Ogunsola emphasised the importance of climate adaptation policies, expanded research, technological innovation, and robust public health surveillance systems.

According to the VC, the way forward lies in informed planning, stronger climate policies, investment in research, and a united resolve to safeguard the health of African cities.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of FUHSI, Prof. Akeem Lasisi, emphasised that the maiden lecture was not only timely, but essential for a continent currently grappling with environmental and public health instability.

Lasisi stressed that Nigeria, like many African nations, was already witnessing the consequences of shifting weather patterns, extreme heat, and overcrowding in emerging urban centres.

“This topic is not just academic; it is a lived experience already unfolding around us,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ayodeji Alabi