The University of Oxford has named the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Professor Fatima Kyari, as the 2026 Aig-Imoukhuede Visiting Fellow.
The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation disclosed this in a statement on Monday, saying Kyari will undertake the six-month fellowship at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, beginning in September 2026.
The fellowship, delivered in partnership with Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, supports exceptional public sector leaders to deepen their understanding of critical policy challenges and develop practical solutions for strengthening public institutions.
The Foundation said Kyari would join a distinguished group of public sector leaders who have previously held the fellowship, including former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega; former Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Georgina Wood; former Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru; and Director-General of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, Funke Adepoju.
According to the statement, fellows spend six months engaging with leading scholars and practitioners while developing policy insights that can be applied in their home institutions.
It said Kyari’s fellowship research would focus on how Nigeria could expand medical education as a strategic public-sector reform while improving quality, strengthening health workforce capacity and responding to changes in the healthcare labour market.
The Foundation said the research would also produce practical policy recommendations aimed at improving governance, regulatory stewardship and the implementation of large-scale reforms in health and medical education.
Kyari, a clinician and academic, has worked across healthcare delivery, medical research, health policy, medical education, professional regulation and institutional reform.
At the MDCN, the Foundation said she was leading efforts to strengthen medical education and professional regulation as Nigeria seeks to expand its healthcare workforce amid persistent workforce and migration challenges.
Commenting on Kyari’s selection, Executive Vice Chair of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, said the MDCN chief represented the type of public-sector leadership the Foundation wanted to promote in Nigeria.
“Professor Fatima Kyari represents the kind of public sector leadership we want to see more of in Nigeria: leaders who see a problem, ask difficult questions and work to build institutions that can deliver better outcomes,” she said.
Aig-Imoukhuede said Kyari’s work at the MDCN placed her at the centre of important questions concerning the future of Nigeria’s healthcare workforce.
“We are pleased to support her Fellowship at Oxford and look forward to the practical ideas that will emerge from her work,” she added.
Kyari said the fellowship would allow her to examine Nigeria’s medical education and health workforce systems from a broader perspective.
“I am honoured to be selected as the 2026 Aig-Imoukhuede Visiting Fellow. The Fellowship gives me the opportunity to step back from the day-to-day demands of regulation and take a broader look at how Nigeria can build the medical education and health workforce systems needed for the future,” she said.
She said she looked forward to learning from Oxford’s scholarship and experience, engaging with new perspectives and returning the insights to Nigeria as practical ideas to strengthen health workforce governance, medical education and public-sector reform.
The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation said its fellowship forms part of its broader commitment to strengthening public-sector institutions by developing leaders capable of translating evidence and ideas into effective policies, implementation and improved public services.
The Foundation’s fellowship is designed for exceptional Nigerian public-sector executives and is delivered in partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford.
