President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Professor Idia Ize-Iyamu as the first female Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
Ize-Iyamu’s appointment letter was issued and signed by the Minister of Health, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
Dated August 8th 2025, the letter reads “I am pleased to inform you that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR has approved your appointment as Chief Medical Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin-City, Edo State for four (4)years in the first instance with effect from 18th August,2025.
“This appointment is on such terms and conditions as provided bythe authority establishing the University Teaching Hospitals, or as may be specified by Government in the future.
“While congratulating you on your appointment, I urge you to consolidate and improve on the state of the Hospital towards realising the mandate of a Teaching Hospital.
“It is my expectation that you will continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure that the hospital continues to deliver quality healthcare services to all.”
Prof. Ize-Iyamu joined the hospital in 1997 as a Junior Registrar and rose through the ranks to become an Honourary Consultant in 2005.
For over eleven years, she served as Head of Department, earning widespread respect for her integrity, deep institutional knowledge, and results-driven leadership.
Beyond her administrative and clinical excellence, Prof. Ize-Iyamu is a renowned teacher and trainer who has mentored and developed generations of doctors, many of whom have risen to become consultants, while others are practicing successfully in leading medical institutions across the world.
A globally trained specialist, Prof. Ize-Iyamu is a Commonwealth Fellow and a Craniofacial Orthodontist who honed her expertise at the Oxford University Teaching Hospital, United Kingdom, and furthered her training at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Her international exposure and global professional networks position her to introduce cutting-edge innovations and best practices to UBTH.
In her current role as Dean of the School of Dentistry, University of Benin, she has been celebrated as one of the institution’s most effective Deans, attracting public-private partnerships, mobilizing resources, and significantly improving infrastructure, staff welfare, and student training. She is also a prolific scholar with over 55 publications in reputable local and international journals, contributing meaningfully to evidence-based health policy and research.
