Salako advises successor at NIMR to embrace open door policy

The outgoing Director-General (D-G) of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Prof. Babatunde Salako, has advised his successor on open door policy.

This comes as President Bola Tinubu on Monday approved the appointment of Prof. John Obafunwa as the new D-G for NIMR.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), Ajuri Ngelale, announced the appointment of Obafunwa as the new NIMR D-G.

According to the statement, the appointment takes effect from July 24, 2024, while Tinubu extends his gratitude to Salako for his service to the nation.

Salako said: “My first recommendation is that the new D-G should have an open-door policy. He who wants to see you should be able to see you.

“I know fully well that such opportunities may be abused but he should be able to manage it because when there is no information, it creates room for great violence.

“So, if you don’t want great violence to thrive, then provide information.

“Also, receive information so that you can respond appropriately. I see that as one of the things that explained the success of this administration’’.

Under Salako’s leadership, the institute recorded significant feats that drew attention from far and near.

Salako was first appointed as NIMR D-G by President Muhammadu Buhari on the July 25, 2016 and was re-appointed for the second time to lead the affairs of the institute.

NIMR played a significant role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by creating the first drive in/walk-in testing were over 60,000 Nigerians were tested for free with its homegrown test kits.

The institute also developed other test kits of diseases including those for MPox, yellow fever and lassa fever to increase disease detection.

One of the major highlights of Salako’s tenure was the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to NIMR, where he commended the institute for their innovative and proactive researches in January.

The institute under Salako’s leadership, was also instrumental in creating a sequencing genomics laboratory where the index case of COVID-19 was sequenced.

NIMR Tuberculosis Research Centre and Centre for Human Virology and Genomics, which were national reference laboratories, got the status of International Standard Accreditation (ISO) under his watch.

Salako also championed the creation of a Centre for Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, ICT, Legal Unit and Planning Department.

Others include the Clinical Diagnostic Department, Grant Unit, Research and Innovation as well as Product Development Department among others.