September 7, 2024

Mrs Buhari advocates birth registration for planning, national development

By Justina Aura

The Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has advised parents to register their children at birth to enable government to effectively plan for the future and for national development.

She made the call on Friday when she visited Karu Primary Healthcare Centre in the FCT to welcome the First Baby of the Year 2021 at the centre.

The baby boy, weighing 3.3kg, was born at 12 a.m. on Jan. 1 into the family of Mr and Mrs Adamu Abubakar, an indigene of Biu Local Government Area of Borno.

Represented by Dr Mairo Almakura, the Special Assistant to the President on African First Lady’s Peace Mission, Buhari said birth registration was fundamental to creating data that would assist government to keep track of the number of children in the country and make provision for their development.

The first lady also advised pregnant women to always go for ante-natal care, practice exclusive breastfeeding and embrace family planning to protect their health and wellbeing of their children and the family at large.

Mrs Justina Maka, the Nurse who delivered the first baby, said “he is in a healthy condition.”

The father of the baby, Mr Aliyu Adamu, thanked the first lady and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and promised to follow the instructions of health professionals in caring for the baby.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, said 22 healthcare facilities across the FCT were involved in the search for the baby of the year, of which, the Primary Healthcare Centre in Karu came first.

Tallen, who was represented by Mrs Jummai Mohammed, the Director, Child Development in the ministry, assured the public of government’s support to improving the lives of women and children. (NAN)

First Lady welcomes first baby of 2021 with gifts

By Ahmed Ubandoma

The First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on Friday welcomed baby Aliyu Adamu Abubakar, the first baby of the year 2021, born at 12 a.m. at Karu Primary Healthcare Centre, FCT, Abuja.

The baby boy, weighing 3.3kg, born into the family of Mr and Mrs Adamu Abubakar, an indigene of Biu Local Government Area of Borno, is in a healthy condition.

The president’s wife, who arrived at the Karu Healthcare Centre at about 2:30 p.m. on Friday, urged pregnant women to always go for ante-natal care for safe delivery.

She advised couples to embrace child spacing methods to ensure healthy mothers and babies.

Mrs Buhari, who was represented by Dr Mairo Almakura, the Special Assistant to the President on African First Lady’s Peace Mission, said child spacing was key to sustaining the health and wellbeing of mothers and their babies.

She emphasised the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, saying six months of the process would benefit both mother and child and for babies to acquire the necessary nutrients for healthy growth.

She said “I want to use this opportunity to rejoice with you on this special day and urge you to ensure that your children are exclusively breastfed and immunised at the early stage of their lives.

“I also want to use this medium to appeal to mothers on the need to ensure hygienic environment and register your children during childbirth to assist government to have accurate database for the purpose of planning for the next generation.”

The first lady presented baby kits, including sanitary items to nursing mothers in the medical facility.

Responding, the parents of the baby expressed gratitude to the first lady for visiting them and for the
kind gesture.

The Head of Karu Primary Healthcare Centre, Dr Akila Udoji, who also thanked the first lady for the visit,
said the medical facility required additional manpower to take care of the number of patients that visit it.

The head said there was an increase in the number of patients who go to the hospital, especially from neighbouring communities. (NAN)

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