The Right to Health and State Obligations under Nigerian Constitutional Law: Analytical Perspectives

The right to health occupies a contested position in Nigerian constitutional law. While Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution designates the improvement of public health as a state objective, its characterisation as a non-justiciable directive principle has historically insulated government health policy from judicial scrutiny. This research provides an analytical examination of the right to health under Nigerian constitutional law, tracing its doctrinal evolution through judicial decisions, legislative developments, and civil society litigation strategies from 2015 to 2024. A doctrinal legal methodology was employed, with analytical tools drawn from comparative constitutional law, international human rights law, and the social rights jurisprudence of South Africa, India, and Kenya. Key cases before the Federal High Court and the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice were subjected to extended doctrinal analysis. Secondary sources include constitutional law texts, CESCR concluding observations on Nigeria, and health rights scholarship. The research develops an original analytical framework distinguishing between procedural and substantive dimensions of the right to health in Nigerian constitutional adjudication. Findings reveal a gradual but hesitant judicial movement toward recognising procedural dimensions of the health right while avoiding substantive resource allocation judgments. The study contributes an original analytical contribution to the right to health literature in Nigeria and proposes constitutional amendment language to render health rights partially justiciable. Keywords: right to health, constitutional law, justiciability, Nigeria, socioeconomic rights.