By Akinwale Kasali
Dr. Obi Adigwe would become the pioneer Coordinator of the newly established National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office, NHTDAO, recently created by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The new Federal Government Agency is saddled with the responsibility of driving Nigeria’s Digital Health Transformation.
Adigwe’s appointment was announced in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who stated that the newly created office will operate under the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
The Agency will also serve as the country’s central coordinating platform for digital health and data analytics.
It is, however, expected of the Adigwe’s led Agency to strengthen collaboration with other relevant government agencies and private sector stakeholders while providing a unified framework for digital health implementation nationwide.
The statement reads:
“The NHTDAO will serve as a meta-level national platform for coordinating the country’s digital-health agenda.
“It will reinforce, not replace, the existing statutory functions of relevant departments and agencies.
“It will also harmonise and empower the public and private institutions across the health system, set the standards that connect them, and operationalise the National Digital Health Architecture, approved by the National Council on Health in November 2025,” the statement said.
The statement stressed that Pesident Tinubu named Adigwe, the current Director-General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, NIPRD, as the pioneer National Coordinator of the new office.
According to the Presidency, Adigwe is expected to bring extensive experience in health innovation, artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical research and technology transfer to the role.
The statement noted that as Director-General of NIPRD, Adigwe has spearheaded several landmark initiatives, including the ¥300 million Nanotechnology Grant, the AFREXIMBank-funded project for Africa’s first Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient, API, Training Facility, and the development of the roadmap that secured an €18 million European Union grant—the largest awarded in Africa for that thematic area.
It also highlighted his international recognition during the COVID-19 pandemic for leading what it described as the world’s first scientific analysis that debunked claims surrounding the Covid Organics herbal preparation.
In providing strategic direction and oversight for the new office, President Tinubu approved the constitution of a Steering Committee co-chaired by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, and Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Olaniyi Yusuf.
Other members include the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako; Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Kachollom Daju; the President’s Special Adviser on Technology and Digital Economy, Idris Alubankudi Saliu; National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach, SWAp, Coordination Office, Dr. Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq; National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative to Unlock the Healthcare Value Chain, Dr. Abdu Mukhtar.
Others include; the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Muyi Aina; Director-General of the National Health Insurance Authority, Dr. Kelechi Ohiri; the Director of Health Planning, Research and Statistics in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; a representative of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); six representatives of State Commissioners of Health, one from each geopolitical zone; and Pharm. Hamza Buhari, representing industry and community stakeholders.
The Presidency added that the establishment of the office is expected to accelerate Nigeria’s transition to a secure, interoperable and data-driven healthcare system capable of improving service delivery and health outcomes across the country.
“The President expects NHTDAO to accelerate Nigeria’s transition to a secure, interoperable and data-driven health system that improves outcomes for all citizens, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of his administration,” Onanuga stated.
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