By Bassey Inyang – Calabar
Cross River State has been given a grant of $.5 million by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as the best in the South South region for managing such grants.
The disclosure was made during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the Nigeria Governors’ Leadership Challenge Grant between Cross River State and the Grant Administrator of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Calabar.
Representative of the Grant Administrator of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Hajo Sani, who made the disclosure said previously, the state had won $.5 million.
Sani expressed happiness with the state at its level of commitment and implementation of the programme.
Sani said that they were prepared to go into a technical collaboration with the state to ensure it completes the construction of its accommodation to enable it meet the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) targets within the time frame.
Sani commended the state for being a pacesetter in the zone as well as its effort to sustain the programme to reduce infant mortality rate which she noted was worthy of emulation within the South-South.
In his remark, Governor Liyel Imoke expressed appreciation for the initiative, which he said, had significantly improved the effort of the state towards family health.
Imoke said with its counterpart funding of $250,000 and an additional $250,000 earlier given to the state by the foundation, the effort of the state to implement its primary healthcare programme has now been boosted.
Imoke said that Cross River was committed to attaining MDGs, noting that it would go a long way at ensuring the poor and the vulnerable in the state had access to medical healthcare.
On the award as the best state in the South-South geopolitical zone, Imoke disclosed that the feat was achieved through collective efforts of the parties involved, adding that the state would work with the Foundation to attain greater heights in the sector to ensure those who needed it most were reached.