March 15, 2018

Alumni Spotlight: Abdulkarim Dahiru

The IPPHL fellowship has resulted in major improvements to my work. Though still at the same position I was before the program, there has been an increase in ad-hoc tasks I undertake. I was made a member of the Nasarawa State Strategic Health Development Plan committee. This is the most important policy document to guide the planning for health for the next five years. To be worthy of selection to be part of this team was a great accomplishment and it afforded me the opportunity to set the agenda for health in my state. Work in my department has become more efficient as I have learned to delegate tasks effectively, learning from the FYI model.

I am now more assertive and direct when negotiating with stakeholders, a leadership trait I worked tirelessly to develop during the fellowship.  A direct benefit of this was securing partnerships for the implementation of my policy memo. Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) and Seamhealth Innovations in collaboration with the state are piloting electronic health records in two hospitals in the state. The hardware have been supplied and training will soon commence as we expect to go live in the second quarter of 2018.

I attended a course on advocacy and policy influencing in December last year and most of the concepts taught were similar to those I learned in the fellowship. I am really glad that I got to be part of the first cohort of the IPPHL. My successes since the program motivated a lot of my colleagues and friends to apply for next cohort.