Tinubu approves leadership changes in NCDC, NAFDAC, PCN, MDCN, others in health and welfare sector

*The Federal Government says the appointment of fresh leadership in the sector is aimed at entrenching world-class standards in Nigerian public health administration to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks in line with international best practice

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment and reappointment of the following Board Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

AjuriNgelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, show disclosed this development in a statement issued Thursday, February 15, 2024, said the move was part of the Federal Government’s efforts at entrenching world-class standards in Nigerian public health administration and commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice. These 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. AfolabiLesi

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Fatima Kyari

(4) Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN):

Board Chairperson: Pharm. WasilatGiwa

Chief Executive Officer: Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed

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

 Board Chairperson: Dr. BabajideSalako

 Chief Executive Officer: Dr. TosanErhabor

(6) ModdiboAdama 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

Besides, the statement also noted in the government’s efforts at enhancing the resilience of Nigeria’s public health surveillance and security architecture, President Tinubu approved the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to assume office on February 19, 2024:

(8) Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC):

Director-General / CEO: Dr. Olajide Idris

The Presidential media aide equally explained President Tinubu has “painstakingly considered the wealth of experience of each qualified and aforementioned Nigerian, who will be tasked with driving his Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector.

Profiles of new appointees at a glance

The government further said some details about the new leadership in the sector include the following:

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 had served 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.

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.

 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.

It stated: “The President expects that the new leadership across this critical human development sector will substantially raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population.

Ngelale as well noted that Tinubu’s administration is committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to transforming the sector to enhance aggregate national quality of life and productivity.

“Owing to the high cost of historical underperformance in the sector, the President anticipates the immediate and effective implementation of new policy frameworks to reposition the sector under the able leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social ExWelfare, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate,” stated he.

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