Lagos State has hosted the physical interviews for applicants into the National Health Fellows (NHF) Programme, Cohort 2.0.
This comes as the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in partnership with the Lagos State Ministry of Health, intensified efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s health system through strategic human capital development.
The NHF Programme, approved by President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, is designed to create a new cadre of skilled health system professionals to support service delivery, governance, policy implementation and accountability at sub-national and grassroots levels, in line with ongoing health sector reforms.
The event held between was coordinated through the Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) Desk Coordinating Office and was held at the World Health Organization (WHO) Lagos Office.
It also formed part of the nationwide selection process to identify young professionals to be deployed across the country’s 774 Local Government Areas and a total of 60 shortlisted candidates; three from each of the 20 Local Government Areas of Lagos, participated in the final interview stage.
Building Health Workforce
Speaking on the exercise, the SWAp Desk Office, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Oyeyemi Ogunjobi said the interviews underscored the state’s commitment to building a capable, future-ready health workforce aligned with national reform priorities.
Read Also: Lagos Speaker Announces Healthcare Regulatory Body
Dr. Ogunjobi explained that the National Health Fellows Programme provides a unique platform to identify and nurture young Nigerians who are passionate about public service and equipped to contribute meaningfully to health system planning, governance and servicedelivery at the grassroots.
According to her, “the transparent and merit-driven interview process assessed candidates on motivation, leadership potential, teamwork, communication skills and ethical values, adding that the final selection of 20 fellows would significantly support Lagos State’s health priorities within the SWAp framework.”
Impressive Candidates
Also speaking, the WHO State Coordinator for Lagos State, Dr. Chinenye Okafor described the quality of candidates interviewed as impressive, noting that participants came from diverse professional backgrounds in line with the vision of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
Dr. Okafor said the candidates demonstrated strong commitment, competence and a clear desire to contribute to health system transformation in Lagos State and Nigeria, expressing confidence that the programme would help build a pipeline of resilient health leaders if sustained over time.
She commended the Federal Government and Lagos State for their collaboration, describing Lagos as a trailblazer, and expressed optimism that the selected fellows would help the state maintain its leadership position in health sector innovation and performance.
The Deputy General Manager, Lagos Zonal Office of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Abraham Bethuel-Kasimu, who spoke from the regulatory and financing perspective, said the interview process was objective, transparent, and technologically driven.
Dr. Bethuel-Kasimu, who supervised the process on behalf of NHIA, noted that candidates were assessed using a real-time online scoring portal that eliminated bias and ensured that no single panelist could influence the final outcome, describing the system as fair and credible.
Role of PHCs
On the role of primary healthcare, the Deputy Director, Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Kehinde Ososanya described the NHF Programme as a laudable federal initiative aimed at grooming young leaders capable of influencing primary healthcare delivery nationwide.
Dr. Ososanya explained that selected fellows would be deployed to LGAs to work closely with local government health departments, supporting service delivery, data analysis, community outreach, immunisation, antenatal care and other critical maternal and child health services.
The interviews were conducted by a seven-member multi-sectoral panel comprising representatives of WHO, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), academia and community-based organisations, with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and NHIA serving as observers.