By Abike Dabiri-Erewa Moves To Combat Maternal and Infant Mortality In Nigeria, Donates Baby Packs, Cash To New Mothers In Ikorodu
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that her Foundation – Abike Dabiri-Erewa Foundation is focusing on halting the spread of maternal and infant mortality by ameliorating the conditions of mothers who just out to bed and their children.
The former member of the House of Representatives said this while she was presenting mother and child delivery packs and cash gifts to mothers who had just been put to bed at the Ikorodu General Hospital, on January 8, 2022.
With Nigeria, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) contributing 10 per cent of global deaths for pregnant mothers despite having less than 2.5 per cent of the world’s population, the initiative to provide support for mother and child according to Dabiri-Erewa could not have come at the right time.
Speaking to BlackBox Nigeria correspondent, Dabiri-Erewa said that the Foundation realised that the high rate of maternal and infant mortality can only be addressed if private individuals see a reason to support the campaign to keep mother and child safe.
“We realised that we still have a high rate of maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria, so for individuals what can we do to support? What we have done as a Foundation is to work with others and we have decided to focus on mothers who are giving life to lives.
“This is not going to be a one-off thing, even in terms of what they eat and awareness, we would be partnering with other organisations to see how we can do our little bits in trying to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria. So it is about reaching out to mothers and their babies and finding ways to save children from dying before the age of five? There is a lot more that each of us can do, “ said.
Also speaking at the presentation, the Medical Director of Ikorodu General Hospital, Dr Taiwo Hassan lauded the Chairman of NIDCOM for the gifts noting that she is a “working daughter of the soil”. He told the press that Abike Dabiri-Erewa’s contribution to the upliftment of humanity and service at the General Hospital did not start today.
“She was here some years back to renovate both the male and female wards and now she is here to donate to mothers and babies in the new year. I want to say thank you to Abike Dabiri-Erewa Foundation for this initiative.”
On her part, Dabiri-Erewa thanked the management of the hospital for maintaining good service delivery to the people of Ikorodu.
A total of 18 mothers with two giving birth to twins benefited from the gift and cash presentation.
