In our holiday edition, Patrick Okpaleke and I discuss health and medicine in Nigeria from historical, contemporary, and future perspectives. Okpaleke is a social historian and doctoral researcher in the History Department at York University, Toronto, Canada. His research interests are African history, the social history of health and medicine, the history of technology and environmental history. Patrick's current research is focused on the history of mining and how miners navigate health-related issues, mine accidents, occupational health, industrial pollution, and toxic legacies from industrial activities in Africa.
Our conversation examined similarities between historical and modern pandemics; and considered several intersections of health, medicine, technology and the environment. In the face of modern questions like worker exploitation and calls for cleaner energy, Patrick points out the importance of historical consciousness for economic and sociocultural development of developing nations like Nigeria. We also dive into his use of multidisciplinary methods to conduct cogent historical inquiry.
#health #medicine #nigeria #environment #history #yorkU #technology #coal #nationalism #nation #nationbuilding #mining #pandemic #nationhood #disease #social #economy #sexwork #occupationalhealth #pollution #energy #imperialism #africa #westafrica #culture
