Located about a kilometre off the Gombe-Kano highway, near a river in a hilly area, is a community called Gombe-Abba, in Dukku Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria. Historically, it served as the first capital of the Gombe Emirate and remains an essential part of Gombe’s history.
Gombe-abba, once a prosperous town, is now a neglected village approximately 100 kilometres from the present Gombe Metropolis. In the heart of Gombe-Abba is the Gombe Abba Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) that provides healthcare services to the people of Gombe-Abba and the neighbouring villages.
Between 2022 and 2024, BudgIT implemented the Strengthening Community Engagement and Accountability Project (SCEAP) in Gombe-Abba. During this period, the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) Gombe State Chapter, a Community-Based Organisation, conducted several engagements to enhance community ownership and improve healthcare service delivery to the residents of the community.
Following advocacy visits to community stakeholders as part of the SCEAP intervention in 2023, the FOMWAN Team conducted a client satisfaction survey and focus group discussions. These engagements revealed that the Gombe-Abba Primary Health Centre, which had long served a large population with minimal maintenance, was in dire need of renovation. Patients were forced to seek care in a facility with leaking roofs, broken ceilings, and no running water due to a malfunctioning borehole. The PHC lacked a perimeter fence, leaving it unsecured, and essential medications were frequently out of stock. Despite the dedication of health workers, they were overstretched and demoralised by the deteriorating infrastructure and poor working conditions.
It was clear that the PHC needed support for infrastructural developments to bring about a positive change.
Building on these challenges, BudgIT, through the FOMWAN team, mobilised stakeholders and community members for several town hall meetings to raise awareness and engage the community in advocacy efforts.
Follow-up meetings were held to encourage community participation. In the same period, the WDC, Gombe-Abba PHC Management, including the community members, sent a letter of request to the Gombe State Government soliciting support for the renovation of the PHC Facility.
In response to this, the facility received a complete renovation from the Gombe State government. While the remodelling of the PHC facility building was going on, the WDCs and community members made additional contributions to improve healthcare delivery by building staff quarters to provide accommodation for the health workers. They also constructed a perimeter fence to secure the environment.
As of the end of 2024, through the advocacy and follow-up efforts conducted by FOMWAN and the WDCs committee under the SCEAP intervention, the PHC facility has been renovated, fenced, and staff quarters have been built. The community and surrounding villages now have access to proper health services and amenities.
“The centre is now clean.. We are so grateful.” Mrs Rammatu Muhammad, WDC Member, Gombe Abba PHC
The renovated PHC now serves as a benchmark for rural healthcare facilities across the state. Inspired by its transformation, local leaders report that neighbouring communities are actively advocating for similar upgrades, demonstrating how a single intervention can spark wider improvements in primary healthcare delivery.
Gombe’s experience highlights a critical lesson: when improved infrastructure is matched with dedicated service, the outcome is not merely a refurbished facility, but a stronger, healthier community empowered with renewed hope.
