Cross River State has commenced merit-based interviews for the second cohort of the National Health Fellows Programme (NHFP), a strategic initiative aimed at strengthening Primary Health Care (PHC) service delivery and improving health outcomes at the grassroots.
The interview exercise, which is being conducted nationwide across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, officially opened in Cross River on Monday at the Conference Room of the State Ministry of Health in Calabar. Officials involved in the selection process were urged to uphold the highest standards of fairness, transparency and professionalism.
Declaring the exercise open, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, emphasized the importance of selecting candidates with the right competencies, attitude and growth potential to support PHC systems, rather than focusing solely on technical expertise.
According to him, the programme is designed to identify young professionals who are teachable, adaptable and committed to learning, with the capacity to effectively support health service delivery through coordination, data management and reporting.
“We are not recruiting experts at this stage. Our focus is on candidates who demonstrate the potential to become effective health system leaders, individuals who are willing to learn, grow and add value to Primary Health Care delivery,” Dr. Ayuk stated.
He explained that successful candidates would be deployed to support critical interventions such as routine immunisation, family planning services, basic treatments, health education and health promotion, noting that these services form the backbone of community-level healthcare delivery.
Dr. Ayuk also disclosed that the Federal Government had earlier indicated an employment window for fellows in the first cohort upon completion of their one-year fellowship, a development he described as encouraging for health workforce sustainability. He added that stakeholders are awaiting further clarification on the implementation framework.
“We were informed that there would be post-fellowship employment opportunities. We are hopeful that clear directives will soon be issued on the modality and level of engagement,” he said.
The Commissioner further commended the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other development partners for their continued support to health sector capacity building and system strengthening in the state.
In her remarks, the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Desk Officer at the Cross River State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Edith Silas, praised the performance and contributions of the first batch of Health Fellows, describing the ongoing selection process as credible and in line with best practices.
“This process reflects a strong commitment to merit and transparency. It demonstrates that health system strengthening must be driven by competence, accountability and fairness,” she said.
Continuing, she said that in Cross River State, each of the 18 local government areas have candidates, from which one fellow will be selected per local government following the interviews.
The National Health Fellows Programme is a presidential initiative aimed at building a new generation of health sector leaders by providing young professionals with hands-on leadership, management and service delivery experience within PHC facilities across all 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
The programme is implemented under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp), in collaboration with state ministries of health and development partners.
Kingsley Agim and Jessica Ubi
