Current Position
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Background
Dr. Pate was appointed Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare in August 2023 by President Bola Tinubu and formally confirmed by the Senate. He leads the Federal Ministry of Health alongside Minister of State Iziaq Adekunle Salako.
Experience
Prof Pate’s early leadership trajectory included serving as Executive Director of Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (2008–2011), where he led pivotal reforms such as the Midwives’ Service Scheme and polio eradication strategies that reduced wild polio cases from over 800 in 2008 to just 11 by 2010. He then served as Minister of State for Health (2011–2013), after which he transitioned to academia at Duke University and later Harvard University, where he became Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership. Prof. Pate returned to global public service as Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility (GFF), where he led an $18 billion COVID-19 health response and mobilized health investments across low- and middle-income countries.
Achievements
Honored nationally as Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in October 2022, and featured on TIME100 Health list in May 2025, Prof. Pate is known for his global health credentials and commitment to health equity. His work continues to redefine Nigeria’s health agenda through governance reform, local health resilience, and sustainable health financing strategies.
Education
Prof. Pate trained as a physician at Ahmadu Bello University (MBBS) and completed residency in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Rochester. He subsequently earned a Master’s in Health Systems Management from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and an MBA (Health Sector focus) at Duke University.
