The Cross River State Government has highlighted the healthcare reforms and welfare measures being implemented by the administration of Governor Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu as the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) commenced its 46th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference in Calabar.
The conference, themed “Season of Sweetness 2026: The Calabar Experience,” commenced on Thursday at Hogis Royal, Calabar, bringing together resident doctors, senior medical practitioners, government officials, academics and other stakeholders in the health sector.
Representing Governor Otu at the event, the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Dr. Peter Agbe Odey, said the administration had prioritised investments in healthcare workforce, infrastructure, equipment, medicines, health insurance and effective management.
“Let me state clearly, our investment in health is therefore not for show, it is for impact. This is why I have just approved the employment of doctors, including consultant specialists. We will continue to invest in workforce development, infrastructure, equipment, medicine, health insurance, and effective management,” Odey said.
The Deputy Governor said the administration’s policies were also targeted at addressing infrastructural deficits, improving workplace security and ensuring sustainable human capital development across health facilities in the state.
Chairman of the occasion, Dr. Ambrose Bryant Chukwuemeka Ojiako, represented by Prof. Martins Mary Mehnde, commended the role of resident doctors in clinical services, specialised training and research, stressing the need for proper welfare incentives to keep practitioners motivated.
“As resident doctors drive clinical delivery, specialised training, and research under the guidance of senior consultants, it remains essential to keep them well-motivated through proper welfare incentives,” he said, urging practitioners to uphold professional ethics, integrity and compassion.
The outgoing National President of NARD, Dr. Muhammad Usman Suleiman, commended Governor Otu, Deputy Governor Odey, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, and Director-General of Primary Healthcare, Dr. Vivian Otu, for interventions in the state’s health sector.
Suleiman specifically cited the implementation of 100 per cent remuneration, increase of the retirement age to 65, lifting of employment embargoes and improved security, alongside other measures aimed at improving the working environment for doctors.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, congratulated members of NARD on the AGM, describing it as critical to addressing some of the teething issues affecting the health sector generally.
Ayuk wished the delegates fruitful deliberations and tasked NARD to forward recommendations arising from the conference to both the Federal and State Governments to support informed decision-making and strengthen healthcare delivery.
The Local Organising Committee Chairman, Dr. Ogar Emmanuel Idoko, said the conference provided an avenue for resident doctors to advance professional advocacy and contribute to meaningful reforms in the healthcare system.
“Our mandate was born out of conviction that Nigerian resident doctors deserve better, our healthcare system requires purposeful advocacy and meaningful reforms, and hospitals must remain places of healing, not environments of fear,” Idoko said.
The conference attracted the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, represented by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ekem Emmanuel John; Primary Healthcare Director-General, Dr. Vivian Otu; NARD national officers; past NARD presidents; college heads; former NMA state chairmen and other stakeholders.
By Kingsley Agim
