Nigeria is not ready for the next epidemic. They have shown commitment to improving preparedness, but an outbreak could cause a devastating loss of lives and disrupt political and economic stability.

New On November 18, 2020, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) along with external evaluators including the WHO Nigeria country office, Public Health England, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Resolve to Save Lives, conducted a midterm Joint External Evaluation (JEE). This was a follow-up to the original JEE conducted in June 2017. As a reflection of the sustained investments Nigeria has made in their systems to find, stop, and prevent epidemics, their ReadyScore increased from a 39 to a 46, bringing them from the Not Ready category into the Work to Do category. Areas including legislation, policy and financing; zoonotic disease; risk communication; emergency preparedness and others saw an increase. In 2022, Nigeria will likely conduct their second JEE when their ReadyScore will be officially updated.