A cross section of governors, governors-elect and partners at the event. Photo: Nehemiah Anini/Radio Nigeria
Borno State, on Wednesday emerged the best performing state in the country in the Leadership Challenge, a flagship programme to revamp the Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUOR) policy in the Nigeria.
The policy maximises the commitment of state governors to promoting progressive increase in Primary Health Care (PHC) funding.
Borno State got $700million for emerging best performing state overall and $500,000 for emerging winner in the Northeast in the best performing zonal awards category.
Other winners that emerged in other zones that got $500,000 are Kwara for North Central, Jigawa for Northwest, Ebonyi for South East, Rivers for South South and Ondo for South west.
The first runner up in each zone that got $400,000 each are Federal Capital Territory for North-Central, Bauchi for North East, Zamfara for North West, Abia for South East, Edo for South South and Ogun for South West.
According to the Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate 13 States got award prices totaling $6.1million, in recognition and honour of the exceptional leadership of governors who made significant investments in Primary Health Care by transforming the lives of women, girls and children across the nation.
“So it was November 2019, where the Nigerian governors were hosted in Seattle by visionaries Bill Gates and Alhaji Aliko Dangote. This historical gathering led to the creation of the primary health care leadership challenge.
“This is an initiative organized by the Nigerian Governors Forum, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, and UNICEF, with the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Aliko Dangote Foundation” she said.
A cross section of governors, governors-elect and partners at the event. Photo: Nehemiah Anini/Radio Nigeria
Responding on behalf of the winners, the Governor of Borno, Babagana Zulum, thanked the challenge partners, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dangote Foundation, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the UNICEF for the awards.
He assured that they would do everything possible to ensure that primary health care system is enhanced through effective community participation.
Reporting by Nehemiah Anini; Editing by Chinasa Ossai and Annabel Nwachukwu