EBERE UZOUKWA, PhD
Abia State’s emergence as the best-performing state in the South East at the 2025 Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge, as well as its ranking among the six best-performing states nationwide, represents both a national endorsement and a compelling validation of the far-reaching reforms underway in the state’s health sector. Beyond the prestige of the award and the accompanying USD 500,000 zonal prize, the recognition underscores a deeper reality that Abia’s health system is undergoing a deliberate, people-centred transformation driven by the vision, discipline, and reformist leadership of Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR.
The NGF Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge is not a ceremonial exercise. It is a rigorous performance assessment framework designed to measure and benchmark states across key primary healthcare indicators, using a Performance Monitoring Framework (PMF) jointly developed by health sector stakeholders and endorsed by all states through their Commissioners for Health and Executive Secretaries. The PMF evaluates progress across critical domains including governance and leadership, financing, quality of care, evidence-based decision-making, sustainability, and the Presidential Health Sector Renewal Indicators introduced following the signing of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII) Compact in 2023. Abia’s victory, therefore, reflects measurable progress rather than political goodwill.
At the heart of this achievement is Governor Otti’s firm conviction that a functional and accessible health system is not optional but foundational to human development and economic productivity. Under his administration, over 100 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) from the first batch of 200 have been fully functionalized, upgraded, equipped, and staffed with trained healthcare professionals. Strategically distributed across urban and rural communities, these facilities are restoring public confidence in grassroots healthcare delivery and ensuring that quality healthcare reaches the most vulnerable populations. By strengthening primary healthcare, the state has significantly reduced pressure on secondary and tertiary facilities while improving health outcomes at the community level.
The reform momentum extends beyond primary care. The Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia, has benefited from targeted investments in modern infrastructure, advanced diagnostic equipment, and skilled manpower. These interventions are repositioning the facility as a credible referral centre capable of delivering specialized medical services that previously forced residents to seek care outside the state.
Complementing this effort is the ongoing construction of 10 General Hospitals across the state, a strategic move aimed at strengthening secondary healthcare and ensuring equitable access to quality medical services in all parts of Abia. This expansion reflects a clear policy understanding that healthcare delivery must be inclusive, decentralized, and responsive to community needs.
Perhaps the most symbolic evidence of the administration’s resolve is the remarkable turnaround at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba. Once burdened by declining standards and the loss of key accreditations, the teaching hospital is witnessing a steady revival. Through improved governance structures, renewed professionalism, and targeted investments, lost accreditations are being restored, reaffirming ABSUTH’s status as a centre for medical training, research, and tertiary healthcare delivery.
These structural reforms are reinforced by strong fiscal discipline and consistency. Abia State has sustained a 15 percent allocation of its annual budget to the health sector, aligning with global best practices and underscoring the administration’s prioritization of citizens’ well-being. This fiscal commitment has also translated into resilience and preparedness. In 2025, Abia State emerged as Nigeria’s most prepared state for health emergencies, topping the SBM Health Preparedness Index (HPI) with a score of 26.85, further reinforcing the credibility of its health reforms.
Governor Otti’s prominence at the NGF Awards Night, held on December 12, 2025, at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, where he spoke on behalf of the winning governors, highlights his growing national reputation as a reform-driven leader. In his remarks, the Governor articulated a philosophy that sharply distinguishes his approach to healthcare reform. Healthcare spending, he emphasized, should not be viewed through the narrow prism of financial returns but as a necessary condition for human survival and dignity. This values-based perspective resonates with the broader reform ethos of his administration.
The Vice President of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima, represented at the event by the Coordinating Minister of Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, CON, also underscored the importance of sustained investment in healthcare, noting that good health is foundational to all human aspirations. Such high-level validation further situates Abia’s achievement within a national reform narrative.
Importantly, the health sector renaissance is part of a broader, interconnected transformation agenda unfolding across Abia State. In education, schools are being rehabilitated and standards progressively restored. In waste management, structured sanitation systems are replacing years of neglect. Security has been strengthened through strategic partnerships and improved coordination. Agriculture is witnessing targeted interventions that boost productivity and support rural livelihoods. Industrialization efforts are reviving dormant assets, empowering small and medium-scale enterprises, and creating jobs, while deliberate investments in youth development and sports are expanding opportunities for talent development and social inclusion.
The 2025 NGF Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge Award is therefore not an isolated success but a reflection of systemic, data-driven, and people-focused governance. It affirms that Abia State, under Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, is building durable institutions rather than pursuing short-term optics, delivering measurable outcomes rather than rhetorical promises, and placing human well-being at the centre of public policy. As reforms deepen and investments continue, Abia’s health sector renaissance stands as both a national model and a promise of a healthier, more productive, and more prosperous future for its people.
– Dr. Ebere Uzoukwa is the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Abia State on Public Affairs.