MILITARY GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH REFORMS IN NIGERIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF DISEASE PREVENTION STRATEGIES UNDER MILITARY RULE, 1983-1993

All African countries have experienced military juntas at one point in their history barring Botswana, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles and Ghana. In Nigeria, there were about four military interregnums. As is mostly the case, the military justification for taking over power was to save the country from economic, political and social decay caused by the politicians. There has been scholarship on military regimes and their performance in government most of the works are personal biographies, memoirs, or generic researches on military regimes. There is a deficit of synchronic scholarship on the performance of military governments in essential sectors such as the health sector. Scholars have not fully examined the role and contributions of the military governments in disease control and health reforms between the second and third republics, 1983- ’93. This paper examines the role of military regimes in Nigeria between 1983 and 1993 in public health reforms and disease control strategies and its impact in Taraba State healthcare system. Primary sources such as oral interviews and government reports and secondary sources including journal articles and published books are utilized. The paper reveals that the military strategies for disease control included establishing the Drug Revolving Fund (DRF) and National Agency for Food Administration and Control (NAFDAC); awarding grants for drug procurement, and creating anti-counterfeit drug taskforce for purpose of disease control. However, these initiatives were undermined by administrative inefficiencies, corruption, and weak infrastructural support. The study recommends that the military should stick to their primary duty and leave governance and reforms to technocrats.