One year after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared “You are hired” to the first cohort of the National Health Fellows Programme, many graduates of Cohort 1.0 remain jobless, having passed over other career opportunities to meet the full-time commitment mandated by the fellowship with expectations of fulfillment of the presidential promise.
The programme, launched in March 2025 under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare as part of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), engaged 774 young Nigerians — one per Local Government Area — for a 12-month tenure focused on strengthening primary healthcare delivery at the grassroots level. Official guidelines explicitly required full-time participation, with fellows receiving a stipend during the period.
At the launch event, President Tinubu’s assurance of automatic employment after the one-year tenure created strong expectations of seamless transition into permanent roles within the civil service or health sector. Many selected fellows, who had promising professional opportunities, reportedly declined alternative offers to fully commit to the programme as required.
With the one-year fellowship now concluded and the monthly stipend ended, these pioneering fellows are facing unemployment. The presidential promise of automatic employment led many of them to forgo other career opportunities and refrain from actively seeking new positions during the programme, leaving them to re-enter Nigeria’s highly competitive job market without the anticipated absorption into permanent roles or any guaranteed next step.
Critics point to the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) for the failure to facilitate the promised absorption of the fellows into permanent civil service positions, despite the high-level presidential directive and the expectations it generated. The Commission, responsible for recruitment and employment processes in the federal civil service, has not yet implemented any clear nationwide policy or mechanism for integrating Cohort 1.0 graduates, leaving many in limbo after they sacrificed opportunities in good faith.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is yet to issue a formal statement confirming nationwide permanent employment or absorption plans for Cohort 1.0 graduates, further compounding the uncertainty. Observers and participants continue to seek clarity on how the programme will deliver on the initial assurances of sustained opportunities in the health sector, with growing calls directed at the FCSC to act swiftly on the presidential promise.
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