First Lady Seeks More Collaboration Among Tiers Of Govt As FG Distributes 215,000 Maternal Kits

* 80,000 food-support packs, newborn clothings rolled out

* Govt targets 2.9m pregnant women, families by 2028

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has canvassed stronger collaboration among governments at all levels, traditional and religious institutions, development partners and philanthropists to tackle Nigeria’s maternal and newborn mortality burden.

Mrs Tinubu’s call came just as the Federal Government rolled out 215,000 MAMA kits, 40,000 maternal food-support packs and 40,000 sets of newborn clothing for vulnerable women and families nationwide.

She said the scale of the challenge among pregnant women and infants requires collective action to ensure that the interventions reached them particularly those in poor, underserved and hard-to-reach communities.

Speaking Monday at the flag-off of the distribution at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, the First Lady said pregnancy and childbirth should be occasions of hope and joy rather than a threat to the lives of Nigerian women.

According to her, “This occasion represents a further step towards ensuring that every Nigerian child has a healthy start in life and that no woman loses her life while giving birth.

“The intervention is being implemented under the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII) of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and is designed to encourage greater use of antenatal, delivery and postnatal services.”

Mrs Tinubu said the programme aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on Health, which places healthcare at the centre of national development.

She described MAMII as a bold national intervention bringing together critical stakeholders to tackle preventable maternal and newborn deaths through greater awareness, emergency care and more effective referral systems.

“As a mother, I believe pregnancy and childbirth should be moments of hope and joy, with every woman having access to quality care. However, social, economic, cultural, and logistical barriers still exist. This is what makes today’s flag-off particularly significant,” she said.

The 215,000 MAMA kits and bags, according to her, constitute the second batch of the intervention, following the distribution of 110,000 kits in 2025.

She said government was complementing the kits with 40,000 maternal food-support packs and 40,000 sets of essential newborn clothing, while the intervention would subsequently be expanded to additional local government areas where uptake of MAMII services remained low.

Mrs Tinubu explained that the incentives were intended to encourage economically disadvantaged pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics, prepare adequately for childbirth and remain connected to healthcare services after delivery.

Her words: “The newborn clothing represents the administration’s commitment to welcoming every Nigerian child with dignity, warmth and care.

“The maternal food support equally recognises that the health and nutrition of a mother are essential to a healthy pregnancy, safe delivery, and a healthy newborn.”

She urged state and local governments, as well as traditional and religious leaders, development partners and philanthropists to work with the Federal Government to ensure the materials got to women who needed them most.

The First Lady also highlighted interventions she had supported in maternal and child healthcare, including the provision of professional kits to midwives, retraining of frontline health workers and advocacy against mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis.

She commended the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, and officials of the ministry for their commitment to reducing preventable deaths among women and newborns.

Earlier, in his message, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Pate, said the intervention was part of a wider Federal Government strategy to expand access to essential healthcare and reverse the country’s high burden of preventable maternal and neonatal deaths.

According to him, the government’s sector-wide approach targets a 30 per cent reduction in maternal mortality and a 20 per cent reduction in newborn mortality by 2028, with approximately 2.9 million pregnant women and families expected to benefit.

He said MAMII was already being implemented in several states, focusing on emergency obstetric and newborn care, transportation, referral systems and stronger primary healthcare delivery.

Also, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, described Nigeria’s maternal mortality burden as “one of the most sobering realities of our nation”.

Nigeria, according to figures presented at the event, accounts for nearly 39 per cent of global maternal deaths.

Salako said government was intensifying efforts to expand antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency medical services and timely referrals, especially for women constrained by poverty, distance and other barriers to healthcare.

According to him, the administration’s message to Nigerian women was that “help continues to come and help is very, very close, and it is coming faster”.

On her part, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ipalibo Banigo, commended the Federal Government for placing maternal and newborn survival high on its health agenda but stressed that sustained legislative and institutional support would be necessary to achieve lasting results.

She called for stronger funding of the health sector, improvement of primary healthcare facilities and wider access to emergency services, saying reducing maternal deaths required close collaboration between the executive and legislature.

In his goodwill message, World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative, Dr Pavel Ursu, said the success of the intervention would ultimately be measured by whether it improved women’s access to quality healthcare and saved lives.

“Primary health care is so important. It brings life-saving care closer to families, builds trust and it connects communities to wider health systems,” Ursula said.

He urged authorities to deploy data more effectively to identify gaps and channel resources to communities with the greatest needs.

“Data should show us who is being reached, where gaps remain and where action is most important. Implementation will therefore matter as much as the ambition.”

Ursu also advocated greater ownership and domestic financing by states, stressing that although development partners could assist the country, sustainable progress would have to be driven by Nigerian institutions.

“Lasting progress must be rooted in Nigerian institutions, budgets and accountability.”

The WHO representative also paid tribute to healthcare workers, whose efforts, he said, remained central to translating government policies and investments into lives saved.

“Every day, often in difficult environments, they stand behind women and families at the most vulnerable moments. Their skills, dedication and compassion turn policies into lifesaving.”

Other development partners, including the World Bank, stressed the need for sustained financing, accountability and stronger health systems, noting that the distribution of material incentives must be accompanied by functional facilities, skilled personnel, effective referral systems and quality healthcare.