Investing in women and children is of great necessity in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.
As a child, I grew up in a village called Umutu, in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Before now, there had been inadequate provision and access to healthcare facilities in rural communities of Delta State. This led to the patronage of traditional birth attendants during delivery. Although, some school of thoughts argued that some level of success was recorded by traditional birth attendants, critical analysis revealed that losses recorded through the patronage of traditional birth attendants outweighs it’s gains. Studies also showed that mothers who engage the services of traditional birth attendants, do not get the best of prenatal and postnatal cares, nutritional counsel, vaccination knowledge and family planning.
To increase access to healthcare facilities in the state, primary healthcare centres were established in some rural communities within the state. However, establishment of primary healthcare centres in some rural communities did not yield the anticipated results, as those in rural communities kept to their old ways of engaging traditional birth attendants. Hence, there was need to raise grassroot public awareness on the benefits of accessing quality healthcare services.
This led me to embark on grassroot awareness campaign projects through a Youth-led organisation I founded (Better Life for All Foundation). The projects which were on “Investing in Women and Girls”, “Safe Delivery” and “Your Health is Your Wealth”, were coordinated in rural communities in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. The projects led to informed decisions within the local government.
