In Nigeria, TB DIAH is working with the Nigerian National Tuberculosis and Control Programme (NTBLCP) and its local partners to assess the current TB M&E surveillance system; integrate paper and electronic TB data platforms; enhance access to data and templates for visualization; create situation rooms; and strengthen M&E capacity in 18 states with three implementing partners. Get to know a little bit about our TB DIAH colleagues working in Nigeria, below.
TB DIAH Resident Advisor/Country Team Lead, Abiodun Olusegun Hassan, MBBS, MPH
Lives in: Abuja
What’s the most interesting thing about your job?
The opportunity to work with health informatic experts and building an agile team towards contributing to strengthening the country’s health system and improved TB program performance
Has there been any silver lining to the COVID era? Any lessons learned, personally or professionally, that you believe will serve you (or society) well, after the worst of the epidemic is behind us?
Having been involved in the COVID-19 response at the national level, I have learnt that government efforts should be geared towards building a resilient health system, government and stakeholders in the health sector should think globally and act locally while leveraging the rich opportunity in private sector participation.
What’s one food that always makes you think of home?
Porridge beans and fried plantain
What talent would you most like to have?
The ability to play musical instruments like guitar, saxophone and keyboard. To improve my communication skill and network, I wish to have proficiency in French language.
What is your motto?
Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
Digital Health Expert, Donald Udah, MSc
Lives in: Abuja, Nigeria
What is the most interesting thing about your job with TB DIAH? TB DIAH provides me with an opportunity to advance my interest and passion for health informatics.
Has there been any silver lining to the COVID era? Any lessons learned, personally or professionally, that you believe will serve you (or society) well, after the worst of the epidemic is behind us? The COVID pandemic brought to light our shared humanity and interconnectedness with animals and the environment. Second, the COVID 19 era demonstrated the adaptive nature of humans in the face of adversity. For instance, a physical office is no longer an absolute requirement to get tasks completed.
What was your childhood dream job? As a child, I was fascinated by mathematics and physics and aspired to be a biomedical or computer engineer. Bioinformatics and computational toxicology are currently my areas of interest.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? ‘Yes’
M&E Capacity Building Specialist, Kamaluddin Yahaya Yakubu, MBCS
Lives in: Azare, Bauchi State
What’s the most interesting thing about your new job with TB DIAH?
Getting to work with a team of experts across the globe to work towards institutionalizing the use of data as a guiding light for effective decision making.
Which living person do you most admire?
My mother is the living person I admire the most because of her hard work and resilience and the love she has for me.
What’s one food that always makes you think of home?
Pounded yams.
Digital System Developer, Segun Oluwaseun Bakare, PhD
Lives in: Abuja, Nigeria
What’s the most interesting thing about your new job?
My new job gives me the opportunity to express myself. My boss appreciates the essence of teamwork and has been a good example for us to follow.
What was your dream job when you were a child? What did you want to grow up to do?
My dream growing up was to become a Mechanical Engineer and probably work in an Aeronautical Industry. I ended up taking up additional degree in Mechanical Engineering coupled with my Degree in Computer Science
What’s a food that always makes you think of home?
Yam and fried egg.
Which living person do you most admire?
I admire Wole Soyinka [Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language].
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“It is well.”
Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to read minds.
TB M&E and Surveillance Expert, Victor Abiola, MBChB, Msc
Lives in: Lagos, Nigeria
What’s the most interesting thing about your job? Getting to share your own ideas while also learning from professionals coming from diverse backgrounds on the project team is amazing.
What was the worst job you ever had? What was the best? What made it so bad/so good?
My worst job was 24 hours Resident Clinician, because of the small patient load and not much of a challenging environment and having to stay around all day to see few clients. My best job was as Private Sector Engagement for TB- it was good working with professionals who combine health with business.
Which living person do you most admire?- Elif Shafak [a Turkish-British novelist, essayist, academic, public speaker, and activist for women’s rights, minority rights, and freedom of speech].
What talent would I most like to have?: I believe language is a powerful tool needed to get to the hearts of people and would have loved to be able to speak fluently all the four major languages spoken widely in West Africa- English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Sometimes I wish I could practice politics in a sane environment with sound ideological agenda.
My motto?: All things are possible, if you can think and imagine it.
TB DIAH Strategic Information Advisor, Emmanuel Abiodun Olashore, BSc, MSc, MPH
Lives in: Abuja, Nigeria
What’s the most interesting thing about your job?
The opportunity to transform data to information and then facilitate action among stakeholders is one great thing about my job. Also, this position availed me the opportunity to build the capacity of individuals and organisation leading to system strengthening for improved TB programming on the USAID funded TB LON project and the Nigerian TB control program at large.
What motivates you the most? I am passionate about continuous improvement of systems. I derive joy in making complex systems work seamlessly. Therefore, my work is most influenced by continuous self-capacity development and improvement at the same time building the capacity of others.
What’s one food that always makes you think of home?
Pounded yam and richly made vegetable soup
What talent would you most like to have?
Ability to create values from rubbish. Also, I would like to improve my proficiency in more local and international languages.
What is your motto?
”I will rather support a failing cause that will eventually succeed than supporting a successful one that will later fail… Service to humanity is the best work of life.”
TB M&E and Surveillance Advisor, Joseph Oluwatoyin Kuye, PhD, MSc HEP, MSc PH, MBChB
Lives in Abuja, Nigeria
What’s the most interesting thing about your job?
My job provided the rare opportunity to work with some of the few TB and M&E experts in Nigeria and abroad, enabling me to contribute significantly to enhancing access to data and visualization templates, creating TB situation rooms, and strengthening Nigeria’s TB M&E capacity to collect, manage, and use data for decision-making.
What was the worst job you ever had? What was the best? What made it so bad/so good?
The worst job I ever had was my experience working as a locum Doctor in a private hospital, where I worked as the Doctor, Nurse, and Janitor due to the poor management style of the hospital’s Medical Director. Working on the TB DIAH project is my best job so far, as it allows for work focus, exponential growth, and satisfaction.
Which living person do you most admire?
My father
What talent would you most like to have?
I want to improve my ability to play multiple musical instruments.
What is your motto?
“Give thanks always.”
