Following the Federal Government’s recent announcement of plans to construct 8,800 Primary Healthcare Centres nationwide, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has offered to share his administration’s successful healthcare template. This template, which has resulted in the establishment of functional Category 3 Primary Healthcare Centres in most of the state’s 351 electoral wards, will serve as a blueprint for national implementation.
Governor Makinde made this announcement on Tuesday during the launch of the 2025 Omituntun Free Medical Mission at the Ibadan North-East Local Government Secretariat in Ibadan. He emphasized the accessibility of healthcare as the driving force behind the ward-based PHC initiative. The governor believes that this approach, proven effective in Oyo State, can similarly benefit the Federal Government’s nationwide healthcare expansion. He underscored his administration’s unwavering commitment to improving public health, highlighting its role in driving economic growth and poverty reduction.
“On the health sector,” the Governor stated, “this government will continue to focus on a healthy population and tackling poverty in the state. Only recently, the Vice-President said the Federal Government plans to build 8,800 Primary Healthcare Centres across the country. Before the Federal Government, we started the renovation and equipment of functional PHC facilities in our 351 wards in the state. We are happy that we can give the federal level our template. The template has worked in Oyo State and I am assured it would work at the federal level. We have made a lot of progress in terms of commitment to primary healthcare. So, we have to keep the pressure on. I want to use this medium to thank everyone who has played their own part towards realising the programmes and policies of this administration in the health sector. I will like to thank Professor Temitope Alonge and Dr. Muideen Olatunji; they have done very well. I equally appreciate the Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, the Chairman of Oyo State Hospital Management Board, Dr Akin Fagbemi, and the Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry as well as healthcare practitioners too.”
“I also appreciate the support and prayers of our people and doing what is right in our various homes. We can trace the stability we have been enjoying across Oyo State back to how you have been handling the homes. So, I thank you.”
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Ajetunmobi, in her welcome address, praised the Governor’s dedication to expanding healthcare access and his substantial investments in healthcare infrastructure, personnel, and programs. She explained that the Omituntun Free Medical Mission would operate using a cluster model, with each cluster providing comprehensive healthcare services for three days, including postoperative follow-up for surgical patients. She highlighted efforts to enroll beneficiaries in the Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme (OYSHIA) under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to ensure sustained care. The commissioner urged beneficiaries to retain their service codes and adhere to post-care instructions.
Dr Akin Fagbemi, Chairman of the Oyo State Hospital Management Board, expressed appreciation for the Governor’s recent recruitment of medical personnel, which facilitated the state’s long-awaited full accreditation for physiotherapy practice—a milestone previously unattainable for 30 years.
