Nigeria loses 109 pregnant women daily- Aisha Buhari

The first lady, Aisha Buhari, has decried the alarming rate of maternal deaths in Nigeria.

She noted that about 9.2 million Nigerian women and girls get pregnant every year and an “alarming” number of them die.

While speaking at the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Forum in Abuja on Friday, Mrs Buhari, who was represented by Mairo Al Makura, said policies must be enhanced to reduce maternal deaths in the country.

“Pregnancy, as we all know, is a very risking time for women. Every year, about 9.2 million Nigerian women and girls get pregnant. Out of this 9.2 million, every 13 minutes we lose one and every day we lose 109 women,” she said.

“This number is too alarming, and we really need to do something about it,” she said.

READ ALSO: Extend visa ban to wives, children of politicians who undermined 2019 polls – Frank tells US

Mairo said: “That is why the wife of the president has taken it so passionately; she has a clinic for women and children in Daura, before the one she did in Yola, just to alleviate the problems women face during pregnancy and childbirth.

“Women, like we all know, are the backbone of the society; if we get it right with the women folks, we are the better for it on the African continent.”

She asked that policies be enhanced for the safe delivery of women, eliminate poverty, and ensure basic primary education.

“We should empower women; like I said, women, when we get it right, things go right for everybody. The government should try and eradicate extreme poverty. The government should also try to make a policy where basic primary education is necessary.”
She argued that when women are educated, they would know how to take care of themselves and their children.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now