15th February, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
President Bola Tinubu has appointed former Lagos Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris as the Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
He also re-appointed Prof. Moji Adeyeye as the Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
A statement issued by Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale on Thursday said the president also appointed Board chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers (ceoS) for eight agencies under the `Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare:
According to Ngelale, 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, 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.
Under NAFDAC, Dr. Mansur Kabir has been appointed as Board Chairperson, while under the National Blood Service Commission (NBSC), Prof. Abba Zubairu is the board chairman, while Dr. Saleh Yuguda is the CEO.
Under the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Prof. Afolabi Lesi has been appointed the board chairperson while Dr. Fatima Kyari is the CEO.
For the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Wasilat Giwa has been appointed the board chairman while Ibrahim Ahmed is the CEO.
The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) has Dr. Babajide Salako as the board chairman, while Dr. Tosan Erhabor is the CEO.
For the Moddibo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTH), Prof. Adamu G. Bakari has been appointed : Chief Medical Director/CEO, while for the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH), the Chief Medical Director/CEO is Prof. Reuben Eifediyi.
“Furthermore, as part of efforts to bolster the resiliency of Nigeria’s public health surveillance and security architecture, President Bola 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: Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has as its Director-General /CEO, Dr. Olajide Idris.
“Moreover, it is pertinent to note that 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,” he said.
Ngelale said the 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,” he added.
Ngelale stated that the President expected that the new leadership across this critical human development sector would substantially raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population as his 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 Welfare, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate,” he said.