Maternal mortality: We must all take responsibility — Aisha Buhari

Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, yesterday urged Nigerian   stakeholders to  take responsibility and strategic action towards addressing the high maternal and child mortality in the country.


Mrs Buhari spoke  in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital during a three day training workshop for the South West region in Abeokuta, Ogun State .

The workshop was based on Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescence Health and Nutrition, RMNCAH+N.

Represented by the Gimbiya Dogara, wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Mrs Buhari said people at the workshop have the potentials to influence the indices and change the trajectory for good.

According to her, the deaths do not happen at the presidential villa alone but in all the states of the country and thus the need for all hands to be on deck.

The strategic actions, according to Buhari, must be regional based because the uniqueness and peculiarity of each population cannot be left out.

She said: “I wouldn’t bore you all with the disheartening statistics of maternal and child mortality or the huge cost of malnutrition in Nigeria. I know that this room is occupied with knowledgeable individuals and key stakeholders who have the capacity to influence the indices and change our trajectory for good.

“It is, however, important to note these deaths happen in the states that constitute Nigeria, not just at the Presidential Villa. And except every one of us takes responsibility and strategic action towards addressing these issues in our immediate regions, they may remain unchanged and even grow worse.

“We cannot also leave out the uniqueness and peculiarity of each population that is why we’ve chosen to come down to the zones where we can find more common grounds to address maternal and child mortality.”