Cross River Launches Merit-Driven NHF Interviews to Strengthen Primary Healthcare Delivery
By Ebi Collins and Jessica Ubi
Cross River State has commenced merit-based interviews for the second cohort of the National Health Fellows Programme (NHFP), a key health sector intervention designed to strengthen Primary Health Care (PHC) delivery and improve community-level health outcomes across the state.
The interview exercise, which is taking place simultaneously in all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, officially opened on Monday at the Conference Room of the Cross River State Ministry of Health, Calabar. Officials conducting the exercise were urged to adhere strictly to the principles of fairness, transparency and professionalism throughout the selection process.
Declaring the exercise open, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, stressed that the programme prioritises competence, attitude and growth potential over immediate technical expertise, in line with its objective of building a sustainable health workforce.
Dr. Ayuk explained that the NHFP is structured to identify young professionals who are teachable, adaptable and committed to learning, with the capacity to support frontline health service delivery through effective coordination, data management and reporting.
“We are not recruiting experts at this stage. Our focus is on individuals who show the potential to grow into effective health system leaders — people who are willing to learn, develop and add measurable value to Primary Health Care delivery,” he said.
He noted that selected fellows would be deployed to PHC facilities to support critical interventions including routine immunisation, family planning services, basic clinical care, health education and health promotion, describing these services as the foundation of grassroots healthcare delivery.
The Commissioner 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 move he described as encouraging for health workforce development and sustainability. He added that stakeholders are awaiting further clarity on the implementation framework.
“We were informed that post-fellowship employment opportunities would be available. We are hopeful that clear directives will soon be issued on the modality and level of engagement,” Dr. Ayuk stated.
He further commended the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other development partners for their sustained support to health sector capacity building and system strengthening in Cross River State.
Also speaking, the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Desk Officer at the State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Edith Silas, lauded the performance and contributions of the first batch of Health Fellows in the state, describing the ongoing interview process as credible and aligned with best practices in health sector governance.
“This process demonstrates a clear commitment to merit and transparency. Health system strengthening must be driven by competence, accountability and fairness, and that is what we are seeing here,” she said.
Mrs. Silas further explained that each of the 18 local government areas in the state presented candidates for the programme, with one fellow to 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 equipping young professionals with hands-on leadership, management and service delivery experience within Primary Health Care facilities across all 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
