General Secretary or Secretary General as they are called in some unions and associations play a significant role in the organized labour settings.
The Secretariat of NANNM is headed by the General Secretary who is being assisted by a Deputy General Secretary and various heads of departments. The first General Secretary of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives is Comrade Moses Adelani A. Olabode. He was appointed Executive General Secretary of the Association in February, 1978. Mr. Olabode was one of the people who made it possible for the formation of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, and was mandated as the Executive General Secretary of the association at that material time to organize and coordinate the association and to unite all the warring factions. The promulgation of the Trade Union Decree of 1978 by the General Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration further cemented the unification of the nurses and midwives, and made Mr. Olabodes job much easier.
From 1992 (when Comrade Moses A. Olabode ceased to be the Executive General Secretary) to date, the Association had only three General Secretaries namely, Comrade Moses Ahura Matu (1994 to 2004), late Comrade Samson Bolawole (2006 to 2008), Comrade George M. Ayua (2008 to November 2013) and Yusuf-Badmus, W. G. as Ag. General Secretary (November 2013 till date).