The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has donated 45 motorcycles to the Kebbi government to strengthen healthcare outreach and immunisation logistics across the state.

Governor Nasir Idris received the motorcycles on Tuesday in Birnin Kebbi during an engagement with representatives of United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Mr Idris commended UNICEF for the gesture, describing it as timely and impactful in addressing healthcare delivery challenges, particularly at the grassroots.

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to enhancing cooperation and coordination with development partners for effective programme planning and implementation.

“I wish to express the commitment of the Kebbi Government, under my leadership, to enhance cooperation and coordination with our partners in the planning and implementation of programmes.

“There has been a longstanding desire to strengthen collaboration across key sectors, including education, health, empowerment, security, access to justice and other basic needs,” he said.

The governor acknowledged the contributions of UN agencies and NGOs in tackling developmental challenges and stressed the need to sustain partnerships for greater impact.

He assured that the state would continue to provide an enabling environment for partners to operate effectively and reiterated his commitment to implementing agreed-upon programmes for citizens’ benefit.

Mr Idris disclosed that the government had made adequate provisions in the 2026 budget to support key sectors, including health, education, security, water supply, roads, justice and agriculture.

He added that the state had revitalised 22 general hospitals, 179 primary healthcare centres and 63 dispensaries to improve service delivery.

According to him, in 2025, the state enrolled 45,000 vulnerable persons in the health insurance scheme under the Kebbi State Contributory Health Management Agency (KECHEMA).

He commended UNICEF for enrolling an additional 15,000 vulnerable persons in the scheme and expressed optimism that more beneficiaries would be captured this year.

Mr Idris further pledged continued support for development initiatives, including providing counterpart funding for projects.

In her remarks, the UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Wafaa Saeed-Abdelatef, said the motorcycles would improve last-mile delivery of healthcare services, especially immunisation campaigns.

She commended the governor’s leadership in healthcare delivery and efforts toward polio eradication, noting that Kebbi remained a key player in sustaining gains achieved so far.

Similarly, the representative of the World Health Organisation and head of mission in Nigeria, Pavel Ursu, emphasised the importance of sustained investments in the health sector.

Also, the North-West Head of the United Nations Development Programme, Ashraf Usman, commended the governor’s commitment to addressing development challenges, particularly peace and security.

The engagement also featured updates from the Kebbi State Polio Emergency Operations Centre on ongoing polio eradication efforts. 

(NAN)