Bauchi: Owning And Owing Prof. Pate

Bauchi may not have seen the best of its son, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, yet, as he continues to deliver world-class medical facilities and equipment to the state. Within the last three months, he has been in Bauchi three times to commission multi-billion-naira health facilities and equipment, turning Bauchi into something of a mecca for healthcare delivery. It will not be long before Bauchi is designated a medical tourism centre in West Africa. As it is, neighbouring states are already thronging to Bauchi for medical diagnostics and treatment. On 5 October 2026, the minister for health and social welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, along with Mr Taiwo Ayodele, the minister for finance, were in Bauchi to commission a radiodiagnostic and cancer treatment centre, under the medical and diagnostic infrastructure initiative, with the involvement of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA. This was immediately followed by the commissioning of another of such centres at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. These are some of the nine other similar projects across the country at different teaching hospitals, including the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina; the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Nsukka; and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, to name a few. Bauchi has witnessed many such projects in recent years. On the 4th of July, 2026, Prof. Pate was in Bauchi to commission a N10 billion healthcare intervention, providing essential drugs, maternal kits, ambulances, and tricycle ambulances. Other equipment includes suction machines, oxygen concentrators, blood pressure monitors, and newborn care equipment. The items were provided for 20 primary healthcare centres spread across 15 local governments in the state. 17,000 maternity kits were also made available free of charge to pregnant women to ease their financial burden. Earlier, on 18 September 2026, Prof. Pate was in Bauchi to commission and deploy modern, state-of-the-art ambulances to Toro General Hospital, Gamawa General Hospital, the National Obstetric and Fistula Centre in Ningi, and ATBUTH (Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital) in Bauchi. The ATBUTH was also designated a national hospital, and a new site for its upgrade and commissioning was provided. Work on the site has already commenced. On 5 August 2024, the specialist hospital in Misau was commissioned as a Federal Medical Centre, improving healthcare at the grassroots. The specialist hospital in Alkaleri Local Government is also being commissioned as a Federal Medical Centre to deploy more federal healthcare expertise and equipment to the communities east of the Bauchi metropolis, bordering Gombe State. Also, the specialist hospital in Azare LGA, which was converted to a Teaching Hospital for the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences in Azare, has been equipped and commissioned. The ATBUTH has been upgraded at different times, including the commissioning of a Clinical Trials and Special Diagnostics Centre. Back in 2014, during Prof. Pate’s short stint as minister of state for health, he established the National Obstetric and Fistula Centre in Ningi to consolidate research, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of obstetric fistula-related maternal health disorders in Northeastern Nigeria. Today, it houses one of the best obstetric fistula treatment centres in the entire country. As indigenes of Bauchi, we have had cause to celebrate Prof. Pate for also securing jobs for over 4,000 youths in the state. At least 5,000 women have enjoyed free C-section surgeries in the state, with over 12,000 Bauchi indigenes benefitting from free emergency medical services, since Prof. Pate became the health minister. Prof. Pate recently commissioned the first CNG station in the state to provide energy security for the numerous state-of-the-art healthcare facilities situated in Bauchi state. By our reckoning in Bauchi, Prof. Pate has been the finest ambassador of renewed hope, bringing improved healthcare services to indigent persons and better medical equipment to the general citizenry of our dear state. We’ve celebrated him and, on many occasions, expressed how proud we are to have him as a son of the soil, brought in by the GAVI Alliance to improve healthcare in the country. We owe him a debt of gratitude. This we must redeem by voting for his boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to express our gratitude for the projects and institutions he is bringing to our doorsteps. Which other minister is doing so much for his state under this administration? We can only imagine the developments he can bring to the state in the next four years. And as I pointed out earlier, we have not yet seen the best of Prof. Pate.