Infant Mortality: Olufemi  Ajadi Bemoans UNICEF’s Ranking 

Mary Nnah

In a reaction to the latest ranking of Ogun state as the highest in child mortality within the South West part of Nigeria, the Ogun State gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Ambassador Olufemi Oguntoyinbo Ajadi, described the development as indicting and indeed a source of worry to all good loving sons and daughters of the state.

He was particular about the study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which said Ogun had the highest record of deaths of children between the ages of 0 to 5 years in the Southwestern.

This was a high point of UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 6 undertaken in conjunction with the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, which added that the state was also lowest in postnatal care for newborns, among others.

Given by Mohammed Okorie, the Social Policy Specialist of UNICEF, also estimated that 56 out of 1000 children between the ages of 0 to 11 months died after birth in Ogun State.

Ajadi said it was unacceptable for a gateway state with its record of producing distinguished academics and other experts, as well as the resources available to it to rank worst in child mortality.

According to him, Ogun possessed enough resources to take adequate care of its citizens but the problem had been the effective management of such resources.

Ajadi said the UNICEF verdict had also vindicated the NNPP’s stance that the state was not very well governed, with the result that certain necessities were indeed lacking.

He said the priority of any good government was the welfare of its citizens, essentially the people that voted it into office, and secondly children, without which the future of that state could indeed be bleak.

He then queried where the current government in the state, put the proverbial statement that the youths are the future of tomorrow if the state should now become synonymous with child mortality.

“In a situation where other states are doing everything possible to take adequate care of their citizens through welfare provisions, what could be said of our dear state?

“Why have things deteriorated to the level where Ogun could not take adequate care of its infants? This is a source for concern”, Ajadi said.
He said the promise of NNPP to bring about a change in the state from next year, was not rhetoric but a course of action, which had been very well articulated.
He referred to his manifesto as having captured all the key areas of need in the state, adding that adequate welfare provision and health infrastructure were part.

According to him, both the UNICEF and other agencies of importance would be encouraged to make interventions in the state, with a mindset of checkmating amongst others, child killer diseases as well as promoting longevity lifestyles.

“I promise our good people that we have been taking note of those critical infrastructure human and otherwise, lacking in our dear state. Once we come into power, our immediate work would be to tackle them.

“A comprehensive programme of collaboration is already in place, to roll off as soon as possible, once the will of the people speaks”, Ajadi added.