By Femi Mustapha in Kaduna
Former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Anambra State Health Insurance Agency (ASHIA), Dr. Simeon Onyemaechi, has challenged political appointees in Kaduna State to adopt vulnerable families into the state health insurance scheme as a practical step toward achieving Universal Health Coverage.
Dr. Onyemaechi made the call on Thursday while delivering the keynote address titled “Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Kaduna State: The Role of Political Appointees” at a one-day sensitization workshop for political appointees held at Bafra Hotel, Kaduna.
The workshop, themed “Advancing Universal Health Coverage in Kaduna State: The Role of Political Appointees,” was convened by the Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA), under the leadership of its Director-General, Malam Abubakar Sadiq Hassan.
Declaring the workshop open, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Abdulkadir Muazu Meyare, and the Honorable Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Umma K. Ahmed, said Universal Health Coverage cannot be achieved by the Ministry of Health or KADCHMA alone, but requires the commitment of all political leaders who have access to the people and command their trust.
They explained that under the administration of Governor Uba Sani, CON, and Deputy Governor Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, the state is building an accessible and equitable health system by strengthening primary healthcare, improving secondary facilities, and expanding financial protection through the Kaduna State Contributory Health Scheme.
In his welcome address, KADCHMA DG Abubakar Sadiq Hassan said the scheme, which operates across all 23 Local Government Areas, had recorded more than 1.7 million service utilizations by the second quarter of 2026, with more than 15,000 vulnerable persons enrolled in 2025 and a development-partner intervention targeting more than 32,000 vulnerable beneficiaries in 2026.
Hassan urged appointees to go beyond advocacy and sponsor the annual premiums of widowed mothers, elderly persons, persons living with disabilities, and struggling families, describing it as an investment in human dignity and the SUSTAIN Agenda.
Taking the floor, Dr. Onyemaechi described Universal Health Coverage not as a medical problem but as a political commitment, noting that it means a mother in Birnin Gwari or Sanga being able to deliver safely without her husband selling his land, and an older man in Kaduna North managing diabetes without choosing between drugs and food.
Reflecting on his eight years leading ASHIA, he said the agency moved from zero to hundreds of thousands enrolled by deploying political will and the ASHIA Adoption Model, taking the campaign to markets, women’s August meetings, town union meetings, and traditional rulers’ palaces, and speaking the language of the people.
He commended Kaduna for dedicating more than 15 percent of its budget to health in line with the Abuja Declaration, revitalizing more than 300 Primary Healthcare Centers, recruiting thousands of health workers, and equipping facilities. Still, he warned that fewer than 700,000 of the state’s 11 million residents—just 6 percent—are insured by KADCHMA, rising to about 10 percent when federal civil servants and students are included.
According to him, this means nine out of every 10 residents who are hypertensive, diabetic, or pregnant are unsure of how to afford care, a situation he said no progressive state should accept.
To reverse the trend, Dr. Onyemaechi gave appointees three charges: become UHC evangelists by preaching KADCHMA at every constituency meeting, lead through direct financial intervention by adopting families, and enforce accountability and oversight over PHCs and drug availability.
He challenged the appointees, saying that true leadership is not about the number of cars in a convoy but about how many people can access a hospital because a leader stood in the gap, urging them to pay premiums from what the government pays them.
He cited those already leading the adoption drive as Hon. Mukhtar Monrovia, Hon. Bello El-Rufai, Hon. Mukhtar Kauru, Kaduna South LGA Chairman Hon. Franceesska Naymarie, the APC Women Leader, Engr. Simon Obadiah Nkong, and Magani Sai da Gwaji, as well as Lifidi, Soba Waqaf, Caleb Danladi, Sanke, Ibrahim Ridwan, Isa Chikaji, Iyal, and Haj. Rabiatu Memorial Foundation.
He concluded that political offices are transient and that the legacy of appointees will not be measured by signed memos but by the number of the poorest families in their villages who no longer have to beg to stay alive, and called on them to build a Kaduna where health is a guarantee, not a luxury.
