By: Adelowo Oladipo Minna
The First Lady of the Niger state , Hajia Fatima Mohammed Bago has called on women to vigorously promote exclusive breastfeeding, saying “it will enable them bring up healthy children and enhance babies good start in life.”
Speaking at the first 1,000 days initiative to commemorate this year’s World Breastfeeding Week organised by the State Primary Health Care Development Agency supported by UNICEF and funded by the United states government, Hajia Fatima Bago appealed to women not to give anything apart from the breast milk because the breast milk is rich and sufficient in all the nutrients that the child will need.
According to her “I am calling on mothers to ensure for the six months, and we are appealing to our pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers not to give anything apart from the breast milk within the first six months because the breast milk is rich and sufficient in all the nutrients.”
She also visited the Senator Idris Kuta Memorial Primary Health Care centre,old Airport Road, Minna where she met with five mothers who were just delivered of their babies and donated the sum of N250,000 to the five mothers as support.
She stressed that, “I am so glad that the five mothers who were safely delivered today are already breastfeeding their babies and I encourage other women to adhere to exclusive breastfeeding for us to have healthy children and a safer future”.
Speaking also, the Executive Director of the Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Junaidu Inuwa said the rate of compliance is not something that is tangible and can be measured.
According to him, “from the little date we are having, the rate of compliance in Niger is very high, breastfeeding in Niger state is about 49 percent, we have not yet reached the national average.
“We are working very hard to to reach the national average. It is part of the reason why we are having this sensitisation. The national average is about 56 percent.”
A road walk to commemorate the week was held in the early hours of the day where participants walked under a heavy downpour from the Kuta Memorial primary healthcare centre at the old Airport Road to the Obasanjo complex sensitising women and residents on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 1000 days of new babies.
Speaking after the walk, Director, Food and Drugs, Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Pharm. Daniel Jiya said the essence of commemorating the world breastfeeding Day was to sensitise women and breastfeeding mothers on the importance and significance of exclusively breastfeeding babies for six months.
In their various goodwill messages, Development Partners led by the WHO and UNICEF charged Niger State women especially the breastfeeding Mothers to embrace exclusive breastfeeding adding that “the state has not yet attained the national average for exclusive breastfeeding which is put at 56 percent.”
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