Tinubu Approves Appointment Of CEOs In Health Ministry

Posted by Rotimi Fadeyi Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Thursday, February 15th, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment and reappointment of the following Board Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare:

According to a statement issued on Thursday and signed by Special Adviser to the Presidenti on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the appointments are:

(1) National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC):

Board Chairperson: Dr. Mansur Kabir

Chief Executive Officer: Prof. Moji Adeyeye

(2) National Blood Service Commission (NBSC):

Board Chairperson: Prof. Abba Zubairu

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Saleh Yuguda

(3) Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN):

Board Chairperson: Prof. Afolabi Lesi

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Fatima Kyari

(4) Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN):

Board Chairperson: Pharm. Wasilat Giwa

Chief Executive Officer: Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed

(5) Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN):

Board Chairperson: Dr. Babajide Salako

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Tosan Erhabor

(6) Moddibo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTH): Chief Medical Director / CEO: Prof. Adamu G. Bakari

(7) Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH): Chief Medical Director / CEO: Prof. Reuben Eifediyi

(8) Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC): Director-General / CEO: Dr. Olajide Idris

The statement said that Tinubu took the decision in furtherance of his determination to bring world class standards to Nigerian public health administration and to manifest his commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice.

The statement further said that the President has painstakingly considered the wealth of experience of those appointed, who would be tasked with driving his Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector.

New NCDC Director-General/CEO, Dr. Olajide Idris, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America. He would go on to serve as the Commissioner of Health in Lagos State from 2007 to 2019, after serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Health from 1999 to 2007.

New NBSC Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu, PhD, has served as the Medical Director of the world-leading Mayo Clinic in the United States of America, following a long career in which he served as a Resident Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Hospital as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and undertook a Clinical Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Transfusion Medicine Programme during which he obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Science at the same institution.

New MDCN CEO, Dr. Fatima Kyari, PhD, is a renowned ophthalmologist and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Medicine (FNAMed) who obtained an MBBS degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, after which she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before she obtained a Doctorate degree in Public Health from the same institution.

The President expects that the new leadership across the critical human development sector would raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population as his administration was committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to transforming the sector to enhance aggregate national quality of life and productivity.

The statement added that considering the high cost of historical underperformance in the sector, the President anticipates the immediate and effective implementation of the new policy frameworks to reposition the sector