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Accessing healthcare: An arduous journey for pregnant women in northwest Nigeria

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Accessing healthcare: An arduous journey for pregnant women in northwest Nigeria

By: Michael Mike

In the bustling emergency ward of Jahun General Hospital’s maternity department, the rhythm of activity beats with urgency and determination, like a pulse in the air. In this hospital, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) collaborates with the Jigawa state Ministry of Health to provide comprehensive emergency obstetrics and newborn care and fistula care. Since commencing services in 2008, MSF teams have assisted 90,000 deliveries.
Nigeria is the third country in the world, after South Sudan and Chad, where a woman is most likely to die giving birth, according to the World Health Organisation. With an average of more than 1,000 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births each year, Nigeria is far from the global target for 2030 of less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, as set under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Maternal mortality rates far exceed the country average in northern Nigeria, where more than half of the country’s estimated 200 million people live. In Jigawa state, the most significant factor is the limited access pregnant women have to antenatal care and delivery care for complications in childbirth, which frequently occur.
Unity Enuebuke, MSF Nursing Activity Manager, has been working in Jahun General Hospital for more than 10 years. “We see a lot of women with serious complications, with the most common ones being anaemia, haemorrhage and eclampsia,” she explains. The high number of patients means the maternity wards are often fully occupied, if not over capacity. Unity says, “We regularly have up to two women sharing a bed, and depending on the type of complications we see, things can escalate very quickly.”
Ramatu
Ramatu, a mother of two, suffered life-threatening eclampsia—seizures due to high blood pressure—when she delivered her first baby in Jahun hospital. This is her second time here, overcoming the considerable distance from home. “I live five hours away from Jahun General Hospital. There is no hospital where I live, and the closest one does not open at night,” she explains. In Jigawa state, many of the estimated 749 primary healthcare centres do not have the drugs, healthcare workers and medical equipment to serve the thousands of women of childbearing age, despite efforts from public health authorities, the current healthcare infrastructure does not come close to meeting the needs of the population.
This dire situation leaves pregnant women who want to attend a healthcare facility with limited choices such as giving birth at home, and if complications arise, embarking on a treacherous journey to try to reach one that is functioning.
It is also not enough that healthcare facilities are available, they must also be affordable. The economic reality in this region, worsened by soaring inflation rates, makes it difficult for people to afford hospital fees, drugs or even transportation to health facilities.
The result is that women become hesitant to go to the hospital, preferring to give birth at home with the help of more affordable traditional birth attendants, hence increasing the risk of experiencing complications.
Khadijah
Women have given birth at home for centuries, but mother’s and baby’s survival can hinge on preparing and planning for managing complications, which may also occur without warning. In Jigawa state, health professionals and facility-based delivery rates remain low with up to around 80% of deliveries occurring at home.
Nurse Unity says, “Most times, family members don’t bring the mother to the hospital until they see that the baby is not coming out and the mother herself is having seizures.”
Khadijah, a 58-year-old traditional birth attendant in Aujara community, Jigawa state, understands the value of hospital care if she can’t manage a complication, but has experienced women’s hesitation firsthand. “Some women take my advice when I say they should go to the hospital, while some refuse to go to the hospital because they say that they are used to giving birth at home.”
In many communities in Jigawa state, pregnant women often require permission from their husband or mothers-in-law to visit hospital. This practice is compounded by a trend of early marriage, at an age when women are not fully informed about pregnancy and are not physically ready to carry a child.
Khadijah explains that for some, “it is their husbands that prevent them from going to the hospital. Some men don’t see the relevance of antenatal care, while others don’t want another man to treat their wives.”
1.

What needs to be done?
To tackle maternal mortality, a multitude of factors must be addressed. State authorities and international organisations must scale up their activities and increase funding to healthcare in the region, ensuring that budget allocations for primary healthcare centres are properly utilised and thorough planning and strict implementation processes are in place. In 2023, MSF teams assisted 15,754 deliveries, performed 1,911 caesarean sections and completed 43,785 antenatal consultations. Yet, it is still a drop in the ocean when looking at the needs of women in Jigawa state.
Primary healthcare facilities, which are often the first point where pregnant women seek healthcare, need to be equipped with trained personnel, equipment and resources to manage childbirth-related complications. “Eighty two percent of the cases we receive at Jahun General Hospital are complicated cases that could have been prevented at the primary healthcare level.” says Abdulwahab Mohamed, MSF medical coordinator. “Women, especially those of childbearing age, also have to be informed about their health and wellbeing through health empowerment programmes led by state authorities or other health stakeholders”.
Pregnant women must be encouraged to go for antenatal care where they can be informed about their pregnancy journey and what to expect. Efforts must be made to mitigate cultural practices that hinder women from seeking care in medical facilities. Women should be allowed agency and given freedom to make decisions for their health.
MSF supports the Jigawa state Ministry of Health in providing comprehensive emergency obstetrics and newborn care. Our support started with vesicovaginal fistula repair in 2008, however, the project evolved into a 161-bed facility to care for pregnant women and newborns experiencing complications. MSF teams also provide maternal and neonatal healthcare in the states of Kano, Benue, Cross River, Zamfara and will open a large maternity hospital in Maiduguri in June 2024.

Accessing healthcare: An arduous journey for pregnant women in northwest Nigeria

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Germany, ActionAid Rehabilitate Hundreds of Nigerian Returnees with Vocational Training

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Germany, ActionAid Rehabilitate Hundreds of Nigerian Returnees with Vocational Training

By: Michael Mike

Germany and ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) are presently assisting hundreds of deported or returned Nigerians to get rehabilitated back into the system.

Four hundred deportees (returnees) are currently being trained in different vocations in Abuja, Lagos state and Edo state to get them seamlessly back into the society.

Speaking at the onboarding ceremony of the beneficiaries of the vocation skill training programme in Abuja organised by ActionAid Nigeria in partnership with German Development Cooperation (GIZ) Nigeria under the Reconnect Programme, the Country Director of AAN, Andrew Mamedu said: “Today marks more than just the start of a training programme, it marks the beginning of a transformative journey. A journey that will open doors to new opportunities, foster self-reliance, and lay the foundation for a brighter and more secure future.”

Mamedu, who was represented by the Director, Business Development and Innovation, Nkechi Ilochi-Kanny, noted that: “Across Nigeria, migration has become both a lifeline and a risk. Thousands of young people are compelled to leave in search of better opportunities due to unemployment, insecurity, and limited prospects. While some succeed, many face exploitation, trauma, or deportation.

“According to the International Organisation for Migration, over 17,000 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya, Niger, and other transit countries since 2017. These returnees often come home to face stigma, mental health challenges, and limited reintegration opportunities.

“This is where the Reconnect Project comes in to provide practical, meaningful pathways for reintegration rooted in empathy, inclusion, and resilience. Through vocational skills training, psychosocial support, institutional capacity strengthening, and community engagement, the project seeks not only to address immediate needs but to contribute to systemic, long-term solutions to migration-related vulnerabilities.

“At ActionAid, we believe that real development happens when people especially women and young people are equipped with the tools and knowledge to lift themselves and their communities. This programme is a reflection of that belief.”

On her part, the GiZ Project Component Manager, Abuja, Tolulope Olaiya noted that the project is more than a reintegration initiative, but to create an enabling environment where migration becomes a source of shared benefit-for returing migrants, their families, local communities, and the nation as a whole.

She noted that: “Through strategic
collaboration and strong partnerships, we are confident that this project will drive
meaningful, positive change and play an essential role in supporting Nigeria’s overall.”

Olaiya said: “As we launch this crucial phase of the project, we reaffirm our commitment to working colaboratively with al stakeholders to ensure that the vocational training, national efforts to make migration safe, orderly, and beneficial for all.”

She told the beneficiaries: “I encourage you to take full advantage of this opportunity. Ask questions. Practice often. Embrace the process. Most importantly believe in yourselves. Learning a skill is not just about securing a job; it’s about gaining the power to shape your own future.”

The Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants,
and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Hon. Tijani Ahmed said the Reintegration and Empowerment for Connecting and Nurturing Opportunities of Vulnerable Populations and Returning Migrants is not just a programme title; it is a promise of hope, restoration, and sustainable inclusion.

Ahmed, who was represented by a Director in the Commission, Dr. Nsikan Essien noted that the event marks the beginning of a new chapter for the beneficiaries, many of whom have faced displacement, marginalization, and hardship.

He said: “Today, we celebrate not only their
resilience but also their readiness to embrace new opportunities that will equip them with valuable vocational skills for self-
reliance and economic independence.”

He added that: “At NCFRMI, we believe that reintegration is not complete without empowerment. This is why vocational training initiatives like these are central to our mandate to ensure durable solutions for persons of concern-including returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), migrants, and refugees. When we
invest in skills, we invest in futures. And when we invest in people, we invest in peace, progress, and national prosperity.”

He noted that: “The Commission’s support for the Reconnect Project aligns with our strategie vision under the “Project 5×5” Agenda, which emphasizes livelihood support, durable solutions, and
strategic partnerships. We are particularly encouraged by the project’s deliberate focus on vulnerable groups such as returned migrants, persons with disabilities, and women, groups that are often at the intersection of displacement and inequality.
This onboarding ceremony is more than a symbolic occasion; it is a significant step toward inclusive development and conflict-
sensitive reintegration. It shows what is possible when we work together to create pathways to dignity and economic resilience.”
End

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NTAC DG Mourns Buhari, Conveys Sympathies to President Tinubu, Nigerians

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NTAC DG Mourns Buhari, Conveys Sympathies to President Tinubu, Nigerians

By: Michael Mike

Director General of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub has joined numerous individuals, groups and countries across the globe to mourn the passing of Nigeria ‘s immediate-past President, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.), who passed away at 82.

In a message he personally signed and made available to the public, the former lawmaker said the entire nation was particularly saddened by the sudden passing of a man who gave his all to Nigeria as a soldier,a politician, a mentor to many as well as a nationalist.

Buba, who emphasized that the former Nigerian leader, would forever live in the hearts and minds of generations of Nigerians who knew him and those who would, eventually,read about his incorruptibility and altruistic approach to service, conveyed heartfelt sympathies to President Tinubu,the former President’s immediate family and to all Nigerians.

Part of his statement reads:
“On behalf of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) and its Management, I convey our heartfelt condolences to the family, government and good people of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the passing of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“While we mourn this great soldier, nationalist and Leader,we remember his dedication to democracy, regional stability, and the unity of Nigeria, as well as his unwavering commitment to the anti-corruption crusade, which endeared him to many Nigerians.”

The NTAC boss prayed for the forgiveness of the sins of one of the most popular politicians to traverse the turf of Nigeria.

In Buba’s words: ” May Allah grant him Aljana firdausi and grant his family and entire Nigerians the fortitude to bear the loss.”

Born in Daura, Katsina State in 1942,the former President distinguished himself as a soldier,a politician and a national hero of all time.Having held the position of Nigerian leader twice,a Federal Commissioner of Petroleum,a Military Governor of what is today the Northeast Geopolitical Zone as well as the head of Abacha’s development behemoth,the Petroleum Trust Fund,among others, Buhari in service was acknowledged to have lived above board and held his head high as an incorruptible Nigerian.

He will be remembered more by the principles he espoused in leadership than the monuments he built for self, kith or kin.
End

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Environmental Vanguards Demand Rights of Nature to be given just as Human Rights

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Environmental Vanguards Demand Rights of Nature to be given just as Human Rights

By: Michael Mike

A group of environmental vanguards have demanded rights of nature to be inalienable given just as human rights are not allowed to be violated and protected by no other than United Nations and its several agencies.

Presenting their position in Abuja on Monday at the Nigeria Socioecological Alternatives Convergence (NSAC), the environmental vanguards riled out several demands in what they described as NSAC Charter which include: Access to water as a human right; Recognise the Rights of Nature; Inclusive policy development; Just energy transition from a polluting and epileptic dirty energy model to renewable energy; Job transitioning; Transition to agroecology; Ensure biosafety and biosecurity, ban genetically modified organisms.

Other demands are: Halt deforestation, promote reforestation; Protect our wetlands and halt indiscriminate land reclamation; Invest in flood control infrastructure; Enforcement of mining regulations; Decommissioning of mines and oil wells at end of life; Compensations for job losses and reparations for ecological damage to affected communities; Ecological audit — State of the Nigerian environment.

Also demanded are: Environmental remediation; Accessible and affordable clean energy. Energy democracy; Revamped emergency response mechanisms; Reject false solutions to climate change, including carbon offsets, geoengineering, etc; Halt gas flaring; Halt and reversal of divestments by IOCs and Declare no mining zones.

The Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey who presented their demands at the 2nd Nigeria Socioecological Alternatives Convergence held at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Monday noted that the fabric of the social and environmental conditions of Nigeria are literally stretched to the limit.

He stated that: “The threats emanate from local and global strands of the polycrisis wracking the globe. Exploitation, displacements, conflicts, climate chaos, socioeconomic inequities combine to threaten the tenuous fabrics holding our nation and peoples together.”

He stated that: “Desertification, deforestation, extreme water and air pollution, deadly floods, coastal and gully erosion, insecure farms and diverse ecological devastations all merit a declaration of national environmental security state of emergency? The widespread environmental challenges also provide clear platforms for collective work to salvage the situation in ways that political coalitions may not.”

He declared that: “Waiting before acting is a luxury the people cannot afford. The clarion call for action is urgent and critically existential. This reality inspired the Nigeria Socioecological Alternatives Convergence (NSAC). Regrettably at this second outing the conditions remain dire. We remain undaunted because we understand that the struggle for the change we need cannot be a sprint because it has to be a comprehensive overhaul of a system entrenched by indifference and lack of accountability. The socioecological alternatives we propagate must overturn the current predatory system of destructive extraction and shredded ecological safety nets. Our charter has to construct a Nigeria that is decolonial and post extractivist.”

Bassey said that: “In the maiden national convergence, we collectively agreed to a national charter for socioecological justice. Even as we achieved that major milestone we had hopes that at a future date, we would have participants from other African countries. That future has come faster than we expected. At this convergence we have participants from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. We also have other international partners. The reality of having an African Socioecological Alternatives Convergence (ASAC) is drawing near.”

He noted that there are sources to learn from in efforts to overhaul environmental governance in Nigeria, stressing that in Africa, Kenya and South Africa have constitutional provisions for environmental rights that we can learn from, the South American countries of Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela have constitutional provisions for the rights of Nature.

He explained that: “The Rights of Nature includes the right for Nature to be free from pollution. It also places obligations on human at a number of levels. The Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth is yet to be universally adopted.

“There is a strong campaign for the recognition of ecocide as a crime in the Rome Statute in line with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, etc.

“We already have outcomes of litigations as well as reports that show evidence of ecocide in Nigeria and these could back up the urgency of the crisis,” explaining that: “Two of such reports are the UNEP Report ( Environmental Assessment of Ogoni environment, 2011) and the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report (Environmental Genocide, 2023).”

Bassey noted that: “Delta State House of Assembly is working on a bill to recognize the personhood of River Ethiope. The 2014 National Confab had recommendations for justiciability of human and environmental rights.”

He stated that according to the NSAC Charter, ‘Our vision is of a Nigeria where ecological integrity, social justice, and economic wellbeing coexist. We must birth a Nigeria where the rights of nature are respected, where communities have control over their resources and enjoy resource democracy, and where everyone has access to clean air, water, and a healthy environment.”

He argued that: “The environment supports our life and exploitation of nature’s gifts must be conducted in manners that do not disrupt or breach the cycles of nature. As part of nature, humans have responsibilities and obligations regarding how we interact with our environment and other beings we share the planet with. Human activities contribute to the squeezing we are experiencing from desertification in northern Nigeria and the erosion washing away our communities on the coastline. Sixty-eight (68) years of extraction of fossil fuels has rendered the Niger Delta a disaster zone. Climate impacts and environmental genocide leave festering sores on the territory. Uncontrolled solid mineral extraction is poking holes across the land, and these combined with long abandoned but non-decommissioned mines are scars that we cannot ignore.”

He said: “Let us together ‘Yasunize’ and ‘Ogonize’ by demanding the protection of communities and territories with natural or cultural diversity against activities that cause serious environmental impacts, such as from oil and gas extraction, open cast mining, and other mega-projects. We must wake up and demand a change of mentality.

“Our leaders must Arise and be true compatriots, not lords or emperors, even if that anthem has been placed on the shelf. Oil for development has placed Nigeria on a treadmill surrounded by voracious and insatiable forces of exploitation, expropriation and extermination.”

He revealed that: “The major focus of this Convergence is Examining Relevant National Policies and Frameworks for Addressing Environmental, Climate Change and Socio-ecological Challenges.”

On his part, a Climate Change Specialist. Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo, in his key note address noted that the world is confronted with a number of development challenges – record unemployment, unsustainable fiscal deficits, low growth, among others.

He said. “All this in a context where environmental and climate concerns are becoming an increasingly important component of economic policy.”

Environmental Vanguards Demand Rights of Nature to be given just as Human Rights

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