‘We’ll build on gains made so far’ — Adetifa assumes office as NCDC DG

Ifedayo Adetifa has taken over as the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

President Muhammadu Buhari had, on September 6, appointed Adetifa as NCDC DG.

The new NCDC DG took over from Chikwe Ihekweazu, who was recently appointed as an assistant director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in charge of health emergency intelligence.

Speaking on Monday at an event held to celebrate the efforts of the agency over the years, Adetifa said he will work with other NCDC officials to build on the achievements made so far.

“I must congratulate Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu and the NCDC team for the incredible work being done thus far as well as the natural end of his leadership and the smooth transition process I have witnessed so far,” he said.

“For several years now, I have closely followed the activities of the agency without any knowledge of the possibility of ever leading it.

“My focus in the next few weeks is to work with colleagues to understand their work better so we can collectively build on the gains made so far, in line with the NCDC mandate.”

In his remarks, Ihekweazu expressed confidence that his successor will perform well on the job.

“Dr Adetifa is a proven leader with strong epidemiology, academic and research background as well as the ability to bring people together,” he said.

“His vision for effective utilisation of scientific evidence to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies is exactly what NCDC needs to build on the gains achieved so far.”