The publisher of Nasarawa Newsline Newspaper, Dr. Muktar Sulaiman Wakeel (Makama) Wamba, has commended the executive secretary of the Nasarawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency (NAPHDA), Dr. Usman Iskilu Saleh, for his commitment in the discharge of its statutory mandate. Dr. Wakeel stated this today when he led the management of the newspaper to congratulate the executive secretary on his appointment. While encouraging him to continue with the good job for the betterment of the health care of the citizenry, he said:
”We come here to identify with you, to congratulate you for your well-deserved appointment, and to tell you that you are doing well. And we are proud to have someone like you who knows his job.”
He also commended Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule for supporting NAPHDA and for giving the agency a free hand to operate so as to deliver on its mandates. 

Responding, Dr. Iskilu appreciated the management of the newspaper for coming to congratulate him and to wish him the best of luck. He described their visit as timely and expressed NAPHDA’s readiness to collaborate with them to achieve the goals of the agency. He observed, “Public office is a responsibility that one can never be one hundred percent perfect; therefore, take me as your brother, and at any point in time you see something wrong, please do not hesitate to draw my attention. I need your advice at all times.”

Dr. Iskilu noted that the component of primary health care (PHC) as stipulated by WHO remains the guiding principle of NAPHDA operation, which, according to him, includes the following components: health education, maternal and child health, adequate water and sanitation, food, and nutrition. Others are prevention of infectious diseases, mental and oral health, among others. He further said that the goal of primary health centres is to provide accessible and affordable medical services to the people at the grassroots level, noting that such goals can only be achieved through proper collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including the media.
Dr. Iskilu explained, ”To achieve all these components of WHO on primary health care delivery, our agency cannot do it alone; we must collaborate.” Elaborating more on this, Dr. Iskilu said to achieve adequate water and sanitation components or food and proper nutrition components, we must have inter-sectoral collaborations with all relevant stakeholders.
 Dr. Iskilu, who identified staff training and retraining as well as betterment of welfare of staff as some of his priorities, then stressed that continued collaboration and partnership with relevant agencies will also be among his priorities to strengthen and enhance effective service delivery.