Dr. Osita Okonkwo is Nutrition International’s Country Director for Nigeria. In this role he leads stakeholder engagement and partnership management, provides strategic leadership and oversees planning and program development in the Nigeria country office.
Dr. Osita is a medical doctor, public health specialist and epidemiologist with more than 16 years of project leadership experience in humanitarian emergencies, public health management and disease prevention spanning across Nigeria, South Sudan and Sierra Leone. He is a medical graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife Nigeria and holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. Additionally, he has a postgraduate fellowship in Public Health Policy and Management from Tulane University in New Orleans, USA.
Prior to joining Nutrition International, Dr. Osita led served as the Health Advisor for the Nigerian Red Cross Society where he led resources mobilization efforts and initiated mass campaigns against outbreak of childhood malnutrition and associated illnesses in northern Nigeria. He has also led a UNICEF team in COVID-19 preparedness and response interventions in Bauchi, Nigeria. Over the span of his career, Dr. Osita has applied his technical expertise and project management skills at various levels to strengthen health systems across the continent in the areas of AIDS, WASH, malaria, maternal newborn and child health and nutrition.
Dr. Osita is a recipient of both the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship and the United Nation’s International Peace Federation Ambassador for peace; he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health UK.