Health policies and the contradiction of health seeking behaviour in Nigeria

Neoliberal reforms in Nigeria’s health sector emphasize the enhancement of health care provision that encourages public-private partnership with the aim of providing quality health services to the populace. However, the efforts of government to disaggregate health services for an expansive health care regime have paradoxically led to the exclusion of a significant cohort of the population, and the choice to use other forms of health services becomes more alluring than ever before with deleterious effects on the overall health status of citizens. This circumstance is not unconnected with the failed efforts of government to officially recognize other forms of health services and incorporating them into the insurance scheme and for the need to understand the health seeking behavior of citizens in a plural state such as Nigeria. The limited scope of Nigeria’s health policy complicates the problem such that resolving the health dilemma is critical to ensure a universal health care coverage in the country.