The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in partnership with the Benue State Ministry of Health and Human Services, has commenced the recruitment of the second cohort of National Health Fellows (NHF) to improve primary healthcare services and ensure quality healthcare delivery nationwide.
Speaking during the exercise, which commenced on Monday in Makurdi, the Benue State Desk Officer of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp), Dr. Gbanan Kuma, said the fellows will act as overseers. He explained that their primary roles involve reporting operational challenges and providing data-driven recommendations directly to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for prompt support.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gave approval for the establishment of this programme in November 2024. In 2025, the first cohort of the programme were taken and were given some onboarding training and after that, they were deployed to their respective local government areas. Now, we are here for cohort II. These people are expected to be social accountability agents. They will be at the primary healthcare level. They will integrate with people rendering health services at the local government levels. They will learn, observe, and also support health interventions at the local government levels,” he said.
Regarding the number of candidates to be interviewed, Dr. Kuma disclosed that a total of 69 candidates will be interviewed for Benue State, out of which 23 successful candidates will be selected and deployed to each of the 23 local government areas of the state, one per LGA, after their onboarding process. He disclosed that over 100,000 candidates applied across the 774 local governments in Nigeria, describing the process as a rigorous one.
On the criteria for selection, he said a candidate is expected to be between the age range of 25 to 35 years, have a bachelor’s degree in Sciences, Medical Sciences, Social Sciences, or Information Communication Technology (ICT), adding that the candidate must be an indigene of their state and domiciled in the local government area and must not be in any other employment, as it is expected of them to be available to run the programme for twelve (12) months.
In an interview, some of the candidates, including Wende Mhoonum, expressed optimism that, with her qualifications and experience, she would be successful and contribute to the delivery of quality healthcare services, while Pius Agada said he was happy to be selected for the physical interview for the National Health Fellows Programme and expressed hopes that the interview would be successful and he would be a representative of his local government and greatly contribute to the development of the primary healthcare centers within his local government by partnering with the structures on the ground to achieve the objectives of the programme.
They also called on the government to introduce more of such initiatives to address the challenges of unemployment.
The National Health Fellows Programme is a Presidential initiative aimed at developing a new generation of leaders for Nigeria’s health sector. It equips young professionals with hands-on leadership and management experience within primary healthcare facilities across all 774 LGAs in the 36 states and the FCT.
Each LGA hosts one Health Fellow, strengthening local capacity for health system reform and improved service delivery nationwide. The NHF operates under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp), in partnership with State Ministries of Health and Development Partners.
Following the successful completion of the first cohort, applications for the second cohort opened in November 2025, leading to the current screening and interview phase. The exercise is expected to last for three days.
