The University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) on Monday hosted its 2025 Annual Staff and Corporate Awards in Gwagwalada, Abuja, recognising employees for outstanding performance, dedication, and selfless service. The initiative, according to the hospital’s management, is part of a broader effort to motivate staff, enhance morale, and strengthen workplace excellence in order to sustain quality healthcare delivery.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Acting Chief Medical Director of UATH, Prof. Bob Ukonu, said the awards, instituted in 2017, were designed to promote excellence, diligence, and commitment among staff. He noted that consistent recognition of hard work had helped position the hospital to compete favourably with leading health institutions in Nigeria and beyond.
Prof. Ukonu explained that the award process had been continuously refined over the years to ensure that only deserving staff members were honoured. He said the recipients were employees who had gone the extra mile in caring for patients and supporting hospital management, sometimes at personal risk.
“Everyone that is selected to receive this award will know that he or she has really earned it. It is not a fake,” he said.
“Some of them work at very odd hours, putting their lives on the line to make sure that things work out well.”
He added that the awards were intended not only to recognise the winners but also to motivate other staff members to give their best in the discharge of their duties, particularly in the shared responsibility of saving lives.
The Acting Chief Medical Director commended the Best Staff of the Year, Nurse Usman Mariam, describing her as a staff member whose dedication stood out in the course of her duties. He also praised the labour ward unit, which emerged as the best-performing unit, noting that its performance had contributed to improved patient outcomes, especially in maternal health.
“Following concerns raised in previous assessments about maternal mortality, the hospital management made a commitment to reverse the trend,” Prof. Ukonu said.
“Because of the dedication of our staff working in postnatal and obstetrics care, there is massive improvement in our maternal mortality outcome.”
He stressed that the award initiative was designed to motivate staff over time, adding that consistent hard work could earn repeated recognition in subsequent years. He urged employees to remain committed despite the challenges facing the hospital.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of the UATH Board, Dr. Ikechukwu Odikpo, commended staff for their dedication, resilience, and teamwork, saying their collective efforts had continued to drive the hospital forward.
“We have shown that when vision meets teamwork, transformation is very possible,” Dr. Odikpo said.
The Chairman of the 2025 Staff Award Committee and SERVICOM Nodal Officer, Dr. Anthony Bawa, said the awardees were not handpicked by the committee. According to him, winners emerged from nominations within their respective departments, with the committee only coordinating the process.
“This award is an appreciation of hard work,” Dr. Bawa said. “We did not handpick the awardees; rather, they were nominated by people in each department, and the person with the highest nomination emerged as the best.”
He encouraged staff members who were not recognised this year to continue giving their best, adding that their efforts were still valued.
One of the awardees, Dr. Omachoko Oguche, who won the award for consultant with the highest number of surgeries, thanked the hospital management on behalf of the recipients for recognising dedication and commitment to service.
“An award is a call to more work,” Dr. Oguche said. “When you are awarded, you are called to do more. We are willing to continue to give our best to move our hospital to the next level.”
The event featured the presentation of a cash prize and a plaque to the Best Staff of the Year, Nurse Usman Mariam.
