Dr. Jay Osi Samuels, a Harvard-trained public health expert, is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Programmes) of APIN Public Health Initiatives, which was set up in 2001 to battle the scourge of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. As the organisation is set to mark its 25th anniversary, Samuels tells the story of how the organisation moved from being an intervention body to a major player in public health management in Nigeria. Oluchi Chibuzor brings the excerpts: