BY THE END of 2025, Yobe State stood out as Nigeria’s top state in Primary Health Care (PHC). At the 2025 PHC Leadership Challenge Awards in Abuja, it was recognised as a national leader in healthcare delivery. Yobe was named Best Performing state in the North-East for the second year in a row, after also winning in 2024. Each time, the state received a $500,000 prize.
Yobe State also won the Overall Best Performing State in Nigeria at the event, earning an additional $700,000. Altogether, the state received $1.2 million in prize money that day.
These achievements did not happen by accident. Yobe first led in its region, then built on that to become a national leader. This shows Governor Mai Mala Buni’s clear vision and thoughtful policies.
He also built and equipped a 400-bed Maternal and Paediatric Complex at YSUTH, the largest in the country. The hospital now has a modern 30-bed labour ward, advanced theatre suites for gynaecological and obstetric surgeries, a special newborn care unit with phototherapy machines, incubators, baby cots, monitors, ultrasound machines, and a central sterilisation department. All maternity cases are free, and children from one day to five years old, as well as accident victims, receive free treatment.
Primary health care is focused on local communities, so these awards highlight both Governor Buni’s leadership and his care for the people. They also show his administration’s continued investment and reforms in health.
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Governor Buni has strengthened the Yobe State Ministry of Health, enabling it to provide healthcare throughout the state. Even with funding challenges, Yobe remains a top performer and is moving toward the African Union’s 15% target, reaching 11.9% in 2023.
For example, in the 2024 budget, Yobe State spent ₦13.24 billion on health, out of a total budget of about ₦217 billion. Although it ranked 24th in total spending, it achieved a 98.2% implementation rate, the highest in Nigeria, according to BudgIT. This shows strong commitment and effective healthcare delivery, even with limited funds.
In the 2025 budget, Governor Mai Mala Buni proposed ₦16.96 billion for the health sector. This was a significant share of the budget and aimed to improve healthcare infrastructure and services.
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This year’s budget gave a significant boost to health, allocating ₦66.4 billion out of a total of ₦515.5 billion to the sector. The money will be used to finish primary healthcare centres in all wards, build a new General Hospital in Potiskum, set up a Renal Dialysis Centre in Gashua, upgrade maternity centres, buy ambulances, and provide solar power for hospitals. The aim is to expand quality, accessible care, especially for mothers and their children.
Governor Buni continues to invest in health. Currently, at least 80% of the state’s wards have a functioning primary health care centre open at all times. When a thunderstorm destroyed a health care office, a resident sent me photos on WhatsApp. I shared them with the governor, and his first question was, “When did this happen, and how are the people that facility was meant for coping?”
I couldn’t answer because the person who sent the pictures didn’t say, and I hadn’t asked. The governor then asked for the location, which I gave him. The facility was renovated and reequipped within a week. That’s the kind of responsible leadership that Yobeans have enjoyed under this administration.
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Even before Yobe State won these healthcare awards, Katsina State Governor Dr Dikko Umar Radda had said his state looked up to Yobe. In a February 2024 BBC Hausa interview called A Fada A Cika, he said that in the North, Katsina sees Yobe as a model for healthcare.
Statisense, a top Nigerian AI data company, reported that only 14 states in Nigeria, including Yobe, have improved their healthcare delivery capacity.
This prompted the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya (retd.), to file a ₦1.5 billion defamation lawsuit against him, Arise TV International, and Sahara Reporters Nigeria over what he describes as false, damaging, and injurious reports. Observers say the case could have implications for the relationship between national security figures and the media, particularly in how reports involving military leadership and public safety are covered and challenged under Nigerian law. Tukur Buratai, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), had earlier filed a ₦1 billion suit against Major General Ali-Keffi.
Professor Baba Goni Waru, Chief Medical Director of Yobe State University Teaching Hospital (YSUTH) in Damaturu, said Governor Buni has provided free haemodialysis for patients with chronic kidney failure at YSUTH since taking office.
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He also built and equipped a 400-bed Maternal and Paediatric Complex at YSUTH, the largest in the country. The hospital now has a modern 30-bed labour ward, advanced theatre suites for gynaecological and obstetric surgeries, a special newborn care unit with phototherapy machines, incubators, baby cots, monitors, ultrasound machines, and a central sterilisation department. All maternity cases are free, and children from one day to five years old, as well as accident victims, receive free treatment.
Under Governor Buni, the state has equipped YSUTH with advanced medical technology, including the latest 1.5 Tesla Canon MRI machine, a modern Toshiba CT scanner with 164 slides, digital x-ray machines, 3D and 4D ultrasound scanners, C-arm and mobile x-ray machines, and a modern mammography machine for breast cancer screening.
Concluded.
Lest I Forget
Retired army generals and media houses are at war over defamation. It all began with Major General Danjuma Ali-Keffi (retd.), a former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, accusing some retired generals of being “hand in gloves” with Boko Haram, and possibly bandits.
He even alleged that the air crash that killed the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, was not an accident but an assassination by sponsors of terrorism. He lamented that the matter had been swept under the carpet, with the full report of the crash investigation not made public.
This prompted the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya (retd.), to file a ₦1.5 billion defamation lawsuit against him, Arise TV International, and Sahara Reporters Nigeria over what he describes as false, damaging, and injurious reports. Observers say the case could have implications for the relationship between national security figures and the media, particularly in how reports involving military leadership and public safety are covered and challenged under Nigerian law. Tukur Buratai, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), had earlier filed a ₦1 billion suit against Major General Ali-Keffi.
These are serious allegations from a high-ranking Nigerian. He has repeated them in national newspaper interviews since 2024. In another country, such claims would be investigated right away. Nigeria should not ignore this issue; we need to find out the truth if we are serious about fighting terrorism and its sponsors.
Gimba is the Publisher/CEO of Neptune Prime.
