Philanthropist donates fully equipped health centre to Abia

Abia State has ranked among the top six states nationwide in the 2025 Primary Healthcare (PHC) Leadership Challenge, retaining its position as the South-East’s leading state in healthcare delivery, as a prominent indigene donates a fully equipped Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) to the state government.

The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, disclosed this on Tuesday at Government House, Umuahia, while briefing journalists on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting.

Kanu explained that the PHC Leadership Challenge is a peer-review programme driven by Nigerian governors to assess and benchmark their performance in primary healthcare delivery across states.

According to him, Abia’s impressive performance was achieved through sustained investments in the health sector, including the consistent allocation of 15 per cent of the state budget to health over three consecutive budget cycles, upgrading of health facilities, strengthening of data systems and continuous training of health workers.

He said the state won a prize of $500,000, which he estimated at about ₦750 million, describing the award as further validation of the transformative health sector reforms under Governor Alex Otti’s administration.

Prince Kanu also announced that the 2025 Global Medical Outreach, held between December 15 and 20 across five centres in the state, provided over 3,000 free medical treatments, including eye and other surgeries for 120 patients.

He added that, beyond the free medical services, the outreach trained 62 health workers in basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support, with certifications issued by the American Heart Association.

The commissioner further revealed that another free medical outreach, organised in collaboration with the National Association of Nigerian Nurses, would take place in Abia between January 7 and 12, 2026.

According to him, the outreach will be conducted in seven adopted primary healthcare centres across the state and will also include free training for Abia health workers at the Federal Medical Centre Chapel, Umuahia.

Kanu disclosed that the second phase of “Project Ekwueme” would commence early next year, following the renovation, retrofitting and functionalisation of 200 primary healthcare centres under the first phase, which he said had reached over 90 per cent completion.

He explained that the project aligns with the state government’s plan to renovate, equip and fully functionalise all 948 state-owned primary healthcare centres across Abia.

The commissioner also announced that a fully equipped primary healthcare centre built by a prominent Abia indigene, Chief James Umeh, would be formally handed over to the state government on December 26, 2025. He added that the event would also feature the handover of 30 housing units for widows in the community.

Kanu noted that the state government has continued to partner with individuals and organisations to deliver quality and affordable healthcare services to residents.

He advised Abians to eat and drink responsibly during the festive season, observe good hygiene practices, and avoid patronising quacks, fake drug vendors and unauthorised medical outreaches.

The information commissioner also disclosed that following the formal launch and handover of 20 mass transit buses, the Ministry of Transport was finalising operational details, assuring that all necessary infrastructure would be in place before the commencement of limited pilot operations.

Speaking on the achievement, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, said the recognition validated the reforms being driven by Governor Otti in the health sector.

Uche explained that the award was based on 13 performance indicators, noting that Abia led nationally in two key areas — the availability of essential medical commodities across PHCs and the cleanliness and reliability of health data.

“We are going to work harder in the coming year to ensure that Abia ultimately clinches the first position. It is also important to note that Abia has already been ranked number one in the country in terms of the health preparedness index,” he said.