Maryam Gulma Abukabar.
Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, has rewarded outstanding personnel in the Primary Healthcare (PHC) sector with cash prizes as part of efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery across the state.
The governor announced cash rewards of ₦250,000 each to winners in the PHC Leadership Challenge in all Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.
He also approved ₦3 million, ₦2 million, and ₦5 million for the first, second, and overall best-performing LGAs respectively in each senatorial district.
Ododo disclosed this during the commissioning of 80 revitalised PHC facilities under the first phase of the state’s healthcare revitalisation programme in Lokoja on Friday.
The event also featured a stakeholders’ engagement meeting and the presentation of the PHC Leadership Challenge Awards at the Government House, Lokoja, on Friday, November 7.
He described the recognition as both a reward for excellence and an incentive for other health workers to deliver better services to citizens.
“This initiative is to encourage healthy competition and inspire improved service delivery in our PHC system,” the governor said.
Ododo noted that the commissioning of the 80 revitalised PHC facilities was a monumental achievement, acknowledging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to healthcare development through substantial federal support and strategic appointments.
He particularly commended the appointment of Dr. Muyi Aina, a Kogi State indigene, as Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), describing it as a recognition of merit and a boost to the state’s healthcare advancement.
The governor urged communities to safeguard the revitalised facilities against vandalism to ensure their sustainability. He also promised to introduce a monitoring mechanism to track service delivery, drug dispensation, and facility management across PHC centres in the state.
Ododo later handed over medical equipment and commodities donated by the Federal Ministry of Health, the NPHCDA, and other development partners. He subsequently commissioned the revitalised prototype PHC at the Old Market area in Lokoja.
In his remarks, Dr. Aina commended Governor Ododo for his visionary leadership and expansion of the state’s health insurance scheme despite limited resources. He lauded the quality and commitment of Kogi’s health workers and urged the governor to sustain the leadership challenge as a model for service excellence.
The NPHCDA boss explained that the PHC Leadership Challenge was designed to reward officers who demonstrate excellence in prompt report submission, empathy in client relations, diligence, efficiency, and accurate data management.
The competition, zoned across the three senatorial districts, produced the following winners:
Kogi Central: 1st – Ogori/Magongo LGA; 2nd – Okene LGA
Kogi East: 1st – Bassa LGA; 2nd – Ofu LGA
Kogi West: 1st – Mopa-Muro LGA; 2nd – Kogi LGA
Overall Best: Ogori/Magongo LGA
Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abdulaziz Adams Adeiza, commended all stakeholders for their contributions and disclosed that surveillance and feedback committees have been established to ensure sustainability and accountability in the sector.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the Kogi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Muazu Omeiza, thanked Governor Ododo for his unwavering support to the healthcare sector. He expressed optimism that the administration’s interventions would drastically reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in the state.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
