Odili Lauds Jonathan’s Developmental Strides

Kasim Sumaina Justice, Supreme Court and Executive Director, the Adolescent Project, Nigeria, Justice Mary Peter-Odili has commended the Federal Government led by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for putting in place positive programmes that touch the lives of the people.She disclosed this at the National Citizen Hearing on post-2015 Agenda of White Ribbon Alliance, tagged ‘Nothing about us without us’ held recently in Abuja.

Odili in her speech said, “I cannot fail to commend the federal government for the positive programmes it has put in place, some of which are the Saving One Million Lives Programme, the SURE-P Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Programme and the Midwives Service Scheme which have provided increase in training deployment and retention of trained healthcare workers at Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Nigeria.

Noting that her commitment to the schemes stemmed from her roles as a founding member and First Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the White Ribbon Alliance, Odili said “We mobilised communities, leaders, Traditional Birth Attendants, Midwives, gyneacologists, peadiatricians, medical personnel with diverse expertise and other professional fields including female lawyers, women doctors, teachers, and religious bodies to advocate for government to support birth-preparedness and complicationreadiness at all levels.”

She expressed pride that the White Ribbon Alliance in Nigeria has made progress in its advocacy, from bringing the attention of governments at all levels and policy makers to the issue of maternal and new born deaths, to ensuring that commitments are made and realised. “Now, the Alliance is expanding its focus from just the realisation of commitments to ensuring that citizens are part of decision making, well informed to hold their leaders accountable; a scenario well recognised by governments and reflected in National and Global Accountability Frameworks and Mechanisms.”

“The efforts of Nigeria’s White Ribbon Alliance are all the more commendable in view of the successes now recorded. Some of the advocacy programmes have been part of the engine which propelled the passage of the National Health Bill by the National Assembly which Bill has now become Law having been assent to by President Goodluck Jonathan. Also of note in these activities of the Alliance are the endorsements of the three additional policies at the National Council on Health namely, the Policy on Respectful Maternal Care, increasing Access to inject-able Services; Maternal Surveillance and Review (MDSR).

“When all these policies are well implemented, there would be assurance that government and health workers would uphold the rights of child bearing women and deliver respectful and dignified care; increase access to family planning services and the ensuring that all maternal deaths are recorded, investigated with the aim of preventing future occurrences,” she said.