At the Gates Foundation’s “Goalkeepers: Africa in Motion” summit held recently in Lagos, the most compelling voice on the future of health in Africa did not come from a global health expert. It came from the Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya,CON.
While the world’s wealthiest philanthropists, Bill Gates spoke of impact and innovation, it was Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s grounded, lived experience in turning around a struggling health system that gave the audience something real to hold onto.
Themed “The Future of Progress,” the Gates Foundation’s flagship event in Africa brought together some of the continent’s most prominent changemakers.
But it was Gombe Governor’s clarity of vision, and his insistence on service before spectacle that drew the loudest praise.
Not least from Bill Gates himself, who pointedly described Gombe as “an exemplar of bold healthcare reform.”
This is not the first time Gombe is being recognized for its public sector performance. But this summit was a reminder that governance, when done right, becomes a magnet, not for applause, but for partnerships. And in inuwa Yahaya’s case, those partnerships are working.
It didn’t begin in applause. In fact, as the Governor narrated during the panel moderated by Al Jazeera’s Folly Thibault, it began with pain. On a routine visit to the Gombe State Specialist Hospital early in his first term, he found doctors working with flashlight and patients avoiding care altogether. There was no electricity, no trust, no dignity.
In a nation where excuses often outpace execution, he chose a different path: reform.
At first glance, Gombe might seem an unlikely success story. A modest northeastern state with limited revenues, it is not the usual headline-grabber. But in the past few years, Governor Inuwa Yahaya has orchestrated a quiet revolution, one that is beginning to capture national and even global attention.
On stage with Bill Gates and other notable leaders, Inuwa Yahaya shared a sobering anecdote from his early days in office which was more of a metaphor for a broken system; dark, underfunded and failing those it was meant to serve.
Many would have deferred, blaming lack of funds, federal delays, or the weight of history.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya chose differently. He acted.
His administration embarked on an ambitious and focused reform of the healthcare sector. Not flashy, not headline-driven, just results.
The Specialist Hospital was rehabilitated. Three new general hospitalsemerged. Primary Healthcare Centres in all 114 wards were either constructed or revamped. Solar power was installed. Staff were recruited, trained, and reoriented. The state’s health insurance scheme was expanded to cover more than 240,000 people.
These were not mere upgrades. They were deep systemic interventions, rooted in a philosophy Inuwa Yahaya articulated at the summit: “People think cuts save money. But what really saves money, and lives, is spending with vision, discipline, and a service mindset.”
The numbers bear him out. Immunization coverage in Gombe has risen to about 50 percent. Access to primary healthcare is now between 40 and 45 percent. Maternal and child mortality are on the decline. Trust in public health institutions that once eroded, is being gradually restored.
What sets Inuwa Yahaya’s story apart is not just what he did, but how he did it. He tackled endemic inefficiencies head-on. A biometric attendance system was introduced to weed out ghost workers. Over N2.8 billion was saved from cleaning up payrolls,money that was then reinvested into the sector.
These are the kinds of reforms many leaders promise but few deliver.
In Lagos, Bill Gates didn’t just share the stage with Governor Inuwa Yahaya, he offered something more enduring: praise rooted in results. He called Gombe “an exemplar of bold healthcare reform.”
That commendation didn’t happen in a vacuum. It came because the Gombe State Governor and his team put in the hard, thankless work of governance. They didn’t wait for a miracle or an oil windfall. They simply planned, prioritized, and partnered.
The lesson here is clear. It’s not always about how much a state has, but how much its leaders care, and how clearly they think.
In an era when policy is often clouded by politics, Gombe offers a glimpse of what’s possible when service takes precedence over spectacle.
Gombe is no longer simply a state trying to catch up. It is leading by example, and doing so without fanfare.
Nigeria is in search of a model, something to remind us that our problems, though massive, are not intractable. In Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s Gombe, we may have found one.
The task now is continuity. Vision must outlast terms of office. Systems must survive the politicians who birth them. And national actors must pay closer attention to subnational triumphs. Because sometimes, the answers to our biggest problems lie not in grand federal speeches, but in the quiet, consistent work happening far from the spotlights.
