WELCOME ADDRESS DELIVERED BY DR. ADENIYI SAMUEL OGINNI, PHD, MPH, MBCHB. FNIM, THE AG. HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, FACULTY OF BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCES, REDEEMER’S UNIVERSITY, EDE, AT THE MAIDEN INDUCTION CEREMONY AND SYMPOSIUM OF THE DEPARTMENT HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM ON 12TH OCTOBER, 2026.
Vice Chancellor, sir,
principal officers of our great university, my amiable, indefatigable and ever
supportive Dean, our royal father, distinguished guests, proud parents, faculty
members, and above all, our trailblazing, pioneering inductees—I welcome you to
the maiden induction ceremony of the Department of Public Health, Redeemer’s
University, Ede.
Today marks a historic
milestone for our university. More importantly, it marks the day we send a
formidable task force of health advocates, disease-prevention specialists, and
equity champions out into a nation that desperately needs your expertise. You
are not just graduating; you are being inducted into a sacred covenant with
humanity.
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To give this maiden
ceremony the academic and clinical depth it deserves, we have incorporated a
vital symposium into today’s proceedings, titled: "Vaccinations in
Nigeria: Problems and Prospects." This theme was carefully chosen in
response to the controversies surrounding vaccines and the activities of Big
Pharma globally, and in the interest of fulfilling our obligation to furnish
the public with accurate information to help them make informed decisions about
their health.
………………………………………….. We
operate in a world of deep systemic hurdles, public skepticism, and
geopolitical health inequalities, especially between the global North and South.
We cannot discuss the prospect of vaccinations in Nigeria without addressing
the controversies surrounding vaccine safety.
Recently, we witnessed
a monumental, historic pronouncement by GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunisation, now called the Vaccine Alliance) regarding the systematic removal
of harmful heavy metals from vaccines sent to Low- and Middle-Income Countries
(LMICs). But did GAVI just wake up and decide to reverse this trend on their
own? The answer is a capital NO.
This policy shift was
the direct result of relentless, uncompromising pressure from conscientious
public health specialists—including some of us standing before you today—who
examined the data and demanded equity. For years, when we raised scientific
concerns about the disparities in vaccine formulations between the global North
and the global South, we were demonised. We were called
"anti-vaxxers." We were dismissed as "conspiracy theorists"
and subjected to all sorts of professional labels. But we stood our ground. I
recognise Prof. Joshua Ojo, a Professor of Health Physics at the Obafemi
Awolowo University, who is here present, with whom we established the
NOMANDATORYVAXNAIJA Movement.
We chose truth over
convenience. And today, GAVI’s capitulation is our absolute vindication. This
victory belongs to the unyielding voices that refused to let global health
double standards place the lives of African children at a lower premium. It
provides us with a powerful prospect—a clean slate to rebuild public trust,
dismantle hesitancy, and ensure that the vaccines entering Nigerian communities
are held to the highest global safety standards.
My dear colleagues and
graduates, this hard-fought battle at the global level exposes a fundamental
truth that hits dangerously close to home: it is impossible to build a safe,
trustworthy shield of prevention when the system itself refuses to value it.
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The philosophy
underpinning the Nigerian National Health Policy is undeniably unambiguous:
prevention must be the bedrock of our national health development. The policy
dictates that primary healthcare and preventive frameworks—like robust,
equitable immunization structures—should serve as our frontline shield.
Yet, the tragic paradox
we witness daily is a systemic, deep-seated curative bias.
As a nation, we have
routinely neglected public health and preventive services in favour of
expensive, late-stage curative interventions. We pour disproportionate
investments into building magnificent tertiary hospitals to manage advanced
diseases, while our primary healthcare centers—the true custodians of community
health and vaccine delivery—are starved of funding, basic cold-chain data
infrastructure, and manpower. I call this the 90:10 Paradox of Health
Financing. Just about 10% of health resources - money, manpower and
infrastructure- are targeted at the health needs of 90% of the population,
while 90% of these resources are targeted at institutions catering for just
about 10% of the population's needs.
What is the price of
this domestic neglect? The price is written in our national health indices.
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Vice Chancellor, sir,
distinguished guests, when you treat the sick without fixing what made them
sick in the first place, you are merely mopping the floor while the tap is
still running. Our current healthcare system is buckling under the financial
and structural weight of preventable illnesses. This is exactly why the roles
of today’s inductees are non-negotiable, if our health system must improve.
Standing on this
historic platform, I must raise a critical voice to the powers that be. I am
using this medium to make a passionate, urgent plea to both the executive and
legislative arms of government.
It is time to match
political rhetoric with structural reality. We cannot expect to change
Nigeria's poor health indices or successfully run nationwide vaccination
frameworks when the very experts trained to prevent diseases are marginalized
in public service. I call on our lawmakers and policymakers to review and
reform the Nigerian Scheme of Service. Give public health professionals their rightful
relevance, clear career pathways, and proper placement within the civil service
structure. If prevention is truly our national health policy, then the public
health professional must be empowered as a primary actor in the Nigerian
workforce.
To our inductees, as
you stand today in partnership with the Society for Public Health Professionals
of Nigeria (SPHPN)—a body fiercely dedicated to advancing the development of
public health in our nation—remember that you are entering a professional vanguard
of impact. You are being sent out to correct this national imbalance. Your job
is to pull our health system back toward its original promise: true prevention.
Let the GAVI capitulation
be your first real lesson in public health leadership. The world may label you
when you stand up for data, equity, and ethical standards, but your duty, as
conscientious public health professionals trained in no less a faith-based
citadel than our Redeemer’s University, is to the populace, not to the
convenience of global institutions, local complacency or political correctness.
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