By Rahma Olamide Oladosu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has in the course of his remarkable political career earned the huge reputation of a successful talent hunter due to the ease with which he recruits the best Nigerian brains from across the world to join him in his election-winning exploits and visionary governance.
As governor of Lagos state, the exceptionally brilliant men and women he recruited did not only set the foundation for what is now known as one of the fastest growing cities in the world, they have also gone ahead to become Vice Presidents, governors, ministers, federal lawmakers, heads of federal agencies etc. Wherever they go, they shine brightest and exhibit this uncommon intellect and rare vision of where the country ought to be and how it should get there.
As a restless statesman who will not stop until he gets to the top and takes Nigeria to where it belongs in the comity of nations, aside from grooming some unknown individuals with potential to help him deliver good governance, he also smartly befriends the self-made ones whose sheer brilliancy and capacity he cannot resist because he knows he would need them in the future to help him actualise his vision in a particular field. One of those outstanding Nigerians who President Tinubu has befriended over the years and who is now helping him to succeed in his field is the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
Pate is a household name in this country, and he needs no introduction anywhere in the world as far as medicine and health governance are concerned. He was the one Tinubu identified as the action man to lead the actualisation of his vision for medical industrialisation and self-sufficiency in the production of drugs and other pharmaceuticals. Obviously, he is a square peg in a square hole.
But since President Tinubu and Professor Pate cannot do it alone, they have recruited a couple of individuals with eye-catching CV to head strategic agencies that are crucial to the actualisation of their masterplan.
The appointees include:
1. Dr. Muyi Aina: He is the Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). He is an experienced management consultant and public health professional with a background in healthcare and management consulting. He brings over 25 years of national and international experience in human development, healthcare leadership, and executive management. He has vast experience designing and implementing transformative public health programs and interventions spanning Primary Health Care development, healthcare financing, immunisation, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, MNCH, disease eradication, global health security, health systems leadership and innovation.
Dr. Aina has a medical degree from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. He earned an MPH in International Health from Harvard University and a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He also holds a certificate in vaccine science and policy from Johns Hopkins University.
2. Dr. Kelechi Ohiri: He is the Director-General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), an agency that was legislatively revamped last year to operate as Public Private Partnership and directed at providing accessible, affordable and qualitative healthcare for all Nigerians.
He recently held the position of managing partner at Flint Atlantic Capital Partners as a medical doctor with extensive experience in the healthcare sector spanning clinical medicine, consultancy and advisory roles in both the public and private sectors.
Dr. Ohiri holds a medical degree from the University of Lagos and acquired a masters degree in public health and health policy and management from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During his time at Harvard, he was a Healthcare Management Fellow.
3. Dr. Temitope Ilori: He is the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), an agency that provides an enabling policy environment and stable ongoing facilitation of proactive multi sectoral planning, coordinated implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all HIV/AIDS prevention and impact mitigation activities in Nigeria.
She served as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Ibadan and has been actively involved in policy formulation and strategic development. She served as the Commissioner for Health in Osun State, Nigeria, from 2011 to 2014,
Dr. Ilori holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Ibadan. Her scholarly pursuits extend further as she pursues her PhD. at the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Facu
