Again, Gombe Shines at 2025 National PHC Leadership Challenge, Wins $400,000 Prize

Segun Awofadeji in Gombe

Gombe State has once more set the pace for excellence in primary healthcare, clinching second place in the North-east at the 2025 Primary Health Care (PHC) Leadership Challenge, and outperforming four states across the sub-region.

In recognition of its outstanding performance in strengthening primary health care delivery, Gombe State was rewarded with a whopping $400,000 prize.

The award was presented to the state during the 2025 PHC Leadership Challenge Awards Night, held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.

The high-level event was chaired by the vice president, Senator Kashim Shettima.

It would be recalled that last year, Gombe State made history by winning the PHC Leadership Challenge Innovation Award, the first of its kind since the initiative began, while also emerging second in the North-east, a feat that earned the state a $400,000 reward and underscored its sustained commitment to strengthening primary healthcare delivery.

The PHC Leadership Challenge is an initiative coordinated by Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and UNICEF, with support from global partners, such as Gates Foundation and Aliko Dangote Foundation.

It aims to motivate states to improve governance, financing, service quality, sustainability and health outcomes in their primary healthcare systems, in line with the Seattle Declaration commitments jointly adopted by all 36 state governors in 2019.

Shettima, who was represented at the occasion by Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, congratulated Gombe and other winning states and commended governors across the federation for their support, leadership, and commitment, which had attracted significant successes in the implementation of health programmes nationwide.

He also highlighted the strong political will of the present administration to reposition the health sector, stressing that the federal government plans to increase budgetary allocation to health as part of broader reforms under Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The vice president emphasised that increased and sustained investment in health was critical, given its central role in national development, while also stressing the need to address persistent challenges of access to quality and affordable healthcare for many Nigerians.

In his remarks, Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum and governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, explained that the initiative was conceived to stimulate improved performance among states in the primary health care sector through healthy competition, ultimately serving the overall interest and well-being of Nigerians.

Speaking on the side-lines of the event, the deputy governor of Gombe State, Manassah Daniel Jatau, who represented Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, expressed delight at the award and the accompanying reward, describing it as a strong validation of the state’s deliberate and sustained investments in healthcare.

Since assuming office in 2019, Yahaya has placed the health sector at the heart of his administration, beginning with the declaration of a state of emergency on healthcare.

The bold step led to the revitalisation of at least one fully functional Primary Health Care centre in each of the state’s 114 wards at the first instance, with many wards now hosting two or more facilities, while secondary healthcare institutions were comprehensively upgraded to meet growing service demands.

The governor’s commitment had driven wide-ranging reforms, including the establishment of key health agencies, the implementation of progressive policies, and sustained investments in infrastructure and human resources.

The interventions significantly improved health outcomes, expanded access to quality services across the length and breadth of the state, and positioned Gombe as a model for achieving universal health coverage in Nigeria.

The Gombe delegation at the award ceremony included the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Habu Dahiru, and Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Abdulrahman Shuaibu.