As the nurse strapped the cuff around her arm, Faith Bako sat still, feeling the pressure build up slowly. After a few seconds, the blood pressure monitor blinked and showed 180 over 110.

At first, the numbers meant little to her; it was the nurse’s pause, not the beeping machine, that told her something was wrong.

After weeks of feeling light-headed, the 31-year-old had visited the hospital for a check-up. Living in Masaka, a town in Nasarawa State, Ms Bako spends nearly three hours daily commuting to and from her office in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, often on rickety public vehicles on bad roads.

She experienced headaches almost daily and blamed her persistent headaches on stress and exhaustion.

But as the nurse quietly called for the doctor, Ms Bako realised it might be more serious. A few minutes later, after another check, the doctor confirmed what she never expected to hear.

Her blood pressure was dangerously high- she had hypertension.

This happened a year ago, when Ms Bako was just 30. “I never thought I’d be diagnosed with hypertension at such a young age, but that’s the reality. I’ve been managing it since then,” she said.

Ms Bako’s experience is becoming increasingly common among young Nigerians, many of whom are being diagnosed with hypertension in their 20s and 30s, a condition once thought to affect only the elderly.

For 34-year-old Emeka, a photographer based in Abuja, the discovery came by accident. He had gone for a pre-employment medical test at his new company when the nurse paused during his check-up.

“She asked if I was under any stress,” he recalled with a laugh. “I told her, of course, everyone in this country is stressed. Then she said my blood pressure reading was too high.”

The nurse tried a second device to confirm, but the result was nearly identical. “That was when they advised me to see a doctor,” Mr Emeka said.

Medical experts say the shift in the age range of those affected by hypertension signals an alarming public health trend, one worsened by Nigeria’s changing lifestyles, economic stress, and limited awareness about preventive care.

Hypertension, a silent killer

Hypertension, commonly called high blood pressure, is one of the world’s leading causes of heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. It is dubbed a “silent killer” because it often presents no symptoms until serious complications set in.

When symptoms do appear, they can include headaches, dizzi