NHVMAS concludes 2025 LeNNiB Champions Mentorship program, graduates ten
By Amechi Obiakpu
The New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHVMAS) on Saturday, October 25, 2025 concluded this year’s LeNNiB Champions Mentorship program with the graduation of ten participants after a six-month program.
LeNNiB, which is an acronym of Leaving No Nigerian Behind is a Champions Mentorship community centred HIV prevention and advocacy program, one of the key initiatives of NHVMAS, an HIV prevention advocacy group. The program is designed for adolescent and young people with focused on empowering them through trainings and mentorship to make significant changes in their various communities and environment while addressing the HIV prevention needs of community members.
The goal according to the group, is to improve the competency of adolescents and young people to adopt HIV prevention strategies.
About one, third of Nigeria’s total population is between the ages of 10-24 years, with adolescents (10-19 years) accounting for 8% of persons living with HIV in Nigeria (NAIIS 2018). Worried by the increasing need to provide HIV prevention services to meet the needs of young people and the national goal of achieving “an AIDS free Nigeria, with zero new infection’, led to the creation of the ‘HIV prevention academy’- the LeNNiB Champions program.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony held at the NHVMAS Secretariat, Lagos, Richard Benson, Project Officer at NHVMAS and an alumni of the program said, the LeNNiB Champions program is an annual capacity building initiative aimed at producing ten advocates who undergo structural intervention training, so that they can go back to their respective communities and effect the change they want to see in their community.
According to him, the training is focused on HIV prevention, and enlightening them on the thematic area that the country is using for HIV combating and also to understand the available tools to use in advocating for HIV prevention within their community.
For the 2025 program, Benson noted that over 600 applications were received at the outset of the training out of which only ten were selected. “The learnings include advocacy which is one key tool to effecting change in the society, arrays of new prevention tools including the Virginal PrEP Ring which is a caution for women to protect themselves, long injectable prep, among others”.
On her part Durueke Florita, Executive Director, NHMAS, expressed her excitement over the program. She noted that for the first time since 2017 when the LeNNib Champions Mentorship program started, NHVMAS fully funded the program after sponsorship funding stopped in 2024.
“Over the past 8 years we have got grant to support the LeNNiB engagement program through the USAID funding but in 2024 the support stopped- but the program have created a very niche for young people. NHMAS then took it upon itself as a sense of social responsibility to sustain the programe to implement the program with full support as part of its CSR”.
Continuing she said: “Am excited we could run the program without necessarily fund for the initiative. It also means it’s a laudable project that young people need and we call on other partners to back the program.
Speaking on the initiative Florita said: “The program is driven by young people. What NHVMAS does is to facilitate the training, through capacity building in the area of HIV and sexual reproductive health and also provide them with mentorship- for them to create program and run the same in their various communities.
“From my personal drive I don’t want the initiative to stop, due to lack of fund- what that means is that we need to intensify effort for sponsorship support even if it means co-funding with NHMAS to see that is sustained.
“Every young people look forward to the program. This is so, because when we put up call for application the numbers that register are usually alarming out of which we only admit ten yearly, it tells you the enthusiasm of people about the program.
We are expecting that the 2025 graduands will continue to sustain that advocacy that ambassadors before them have been doing in the area of providing learning on HIV prevention education and all,” she summed.
Some graduands, who spoke to Espinews related the impact the program have had on them and how they intend to better their society with the new knowledge.
For Chukwuemeka Nathaniel Favourite, “the program has helped me carry out the advocacy spirit we have built up and I will execute what I learnt by ensuring people are informed with adequate knowledge about HIV and the need to prevent themselves”.
“Prior to my participation in the LeNNiB program, I had seen some of my friends and colleagues come for the program and the impact in their lives- the way they interact with people and their advocacy passion grew hence I registered to be part of it. Now after six months, I can stand boldly and speak without intimidation, thanks to the training I have received,” says Oluwafunmilayo Ogundele.
On her part, Egageo Osadebawen, a 2017 graduand said: “My experience was largely in the area of advocacy and public health skills. With the lessons I received, I proceeded to earn two Master degrees in Public health, one in epidemiology and general public health. And also because of what I learnt coupled with my educational background I had the opportunity to be selected for IAS 2019 to Mexico to present an abstract and in 2023 I was selected among the first set of vaccine fellow. Currently am serving as a UNaid community delegate as part of the working group of HIV/ETB an infectious disease program”.
Her experience includes data analysis skills, writing better and research development. She is presently planning to create a consultancy firm on public health intervention, data analysis project management and all.
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