Sulayman
Abu-Bakr, MPH

Sulayman Abu-Bakr is a public health practitioner and programme manager whose family roots lie in Lapai, Niger State, and whose work sits where health policy meets data.

He trained first in technology, earning a BSc in Business Information Systems at the University of East London and completing Coventry University's Master's Qualifying Programme, before taking a Master of Public Health with Distinction at Nile University of Nigeria.

For almost a decade at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency in Abuja, he helped build the digital backbone of Nigeria's primary health care system: deploying DHIS2, leading the Electronic Management of Immunization Data (EMID) work, supporting the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre, and serving as a US CDC GEEKS Fellow who managed the national DHIS2 server.

In January 2024 he became Executive Secretary and CEO of the Niger State Contributory Health Agency. In two years enrolment grew by 83.3%, coverage for vulnerable residents rose roughly sevenfold, and the Agency was recognised nationally among the top five state social health insurance agencies.

He chairs the Niger State Health Financing Technical Working Group and serves on several state and national health committees. In 2026 he founded the Sule Lapai Foundation, named after his grandfather, one of Niger State's pioneer Permanent Secretaries. He credits his wife and family for keeping him grounded.

Universal Health Coverage, to me, has always been a political decision before it is a technical one.