LEADERSHIP Primary Healthcare Worker Model of the Year 2025: Mrs Mabel Ijeoma Duaka

Mrs Mabel Ijeoma Duaka is a nursing midwife with the Mafa Primary Healthcare Centre, following her appointment in 2004, after she was on the contract staff of the state healthcare centre.

Born into the family of the late Mr Obed Duaka and Mrs Catherine Duaka in 1964 as the first of eight children, her passion to see the sick healed and her desire to meet the health needs of the people made her switch from her job as a Grade II teacher at Wulari II Primary School in Maiduguri (where she was employed after graduation) to enroll into the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) School of Nursing in 1985, graduating in 1990.

After graduation, Mrs Duaka worked as a contract nurse for some time before securing permanent employment at the Mafa Primary Healthcare Centre in 2004.

In her quest to further enhance her nursing skills for better healthcare delivery, Mrs Duaka proceeded to the University of Maiduguri, where she obtained a B.Sc. in Nursing through a scholarship offered by the Borno State government.

In her determination to serve victims of Boko Haram who were displaced from their homes in Mafa to an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp outside the town near Maiduguri, Mrs Duaka worked tirelessly on the camp, attending to the health needs of the IDPs until relative peace returned to Mafa and they were resettled in 2016.

Since then, she has remained in Mafa doing what she loves most—providing dedicated healthcare services to the sick, whether in the primary healthcare centre, in homes or on camps set up for returnees whose houses were destroyed by terrorists.

It was while on duty that Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, during one of his visits to the local government area, met Mrs Duaka at the health centre by 8pm, when other workers had already left the facility.

That act of dedication, resilience and loyalty to her employer, the state government, made Governor Zulum recognise her commitment to the health needs of the people of Mafa, his own birthplace. The governor has, during two other visits, singled her out, eulogised her dedication, and commended her for standing by his people even as a non-indigene in the midst of Boko Haram attacks.

The reward for her dedication and loyalty came when Governor Zulum, known for rewarding excellence and hard work, included Mrs Duaka among the 72 teachers and health workers who received housing units at a ceremony inaugurated in Mafa.

While presenting the keys, the governor also announced automatic employment for her son, Anthony, a Banking and Finance graduate, at the state-owned Kashim Ibrahim University.

Governor Zulum stated that Mrs Duaka had been working at the Mafa Primary Healthcare Centre for more than two decades and never left the town, even during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency. In further appreciation, the governor noted that she had worked in Mafa for over 24 years without leaving the town for even a month. During the crisis when most people fled, she stayed throughout, despite being a non-indigene, and treated many of his family members including his mother.

He also directed that the allocation of her house be changed from institutional to personal ownership.

Mrs Duaka is married and has four children.