The death of 26-year-old aspiring singer, Ifunanya Nwangene, has ignited a fierce national conversation, with Nigerians pointing accusing fingers not at the snake that bit her, but at a health system they say failed at the most basic level.
Nwangene, who rose to modest fame after featuring on The Voice Nigeria in 2021 and later built a following on TikTok, reportedly died on Saturday after a snake bite at her Abuja residence. She was rushed to two hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory, but neither facility could provide the lifesaving antivenom required to counter the venom.
As news of her death spread, social media platforms were awash with anger, grief and sharp criticism of the country’s healthcare infrastructure. Many argued that her death was avoidable and emblematic of a deeper, systemic failure that affects countless Nigerians beyond the spotlight of social media fame.
Health advocates and concerned citizens stressed that snake bites are not uncommon, even in urban centres, and should not be a death sentence in a country where antivenom exists and is locally developed. They questioned why hospitals would be ill-prepared for such emergencies in 2026.
Popular health communicator, Aproko Doctor, captured the mood succinctly, insisting that the tragedy was less about the bite and more about institutional neglect. He noted that countries across the world manage snake bite cases routinely, adding that Nigeria even has a specific antivenom—Echitab—designed for local snake species. According to him, the absence of such a critical drug in hospital refrigerators reflects a troubling abandonment of fundamentals in public health planning.
He further criticised what he described as misplaced priorities, arguing that governments often favour grand infrastructure projects while neglecting primary healthcare centres, emergency response systems and ambulance services that form the backbone of effective care delivery.
Human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, also weighed in, drawing a stark comparison between Nigeria’s past and present. He recalled that the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, once ranked among the most respected medical institutions in Africa, attracting even foreign elites decades ago. Today, he lamented, preventable deaths occur because hospitals lack basic medical supplies, while skilled medical professionals continue to seek better opportunities abroad.
Echoing this concern, animal and nature enthusiast Arojinle described the shortage of antivenom as widespread and alarming. He cited examples of leading hospitals and pharmacies struggling to stock the drug, recounting instances where patients or relatives searched numerous outlets before finding it—often too late.
