Kunle Adelabu
-Sets to help improve infant and maternal mortality rate in the country
Disturbed by the level of the infant and maternal mortality rate in Nigeria, the Abike Dabiri Foundation has decided to intervene with the aim of improving the situation.
The initiator and sponsor of the Foundation who is also the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and three – term Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abike Dabiri – Erewa, paid a courtesy visit to the General Hospital, Ikorodu, on Saturday, January 8, 2022, where she donated baby items and cash to mothers that just delivered in two wards of the medical facility.
According to the former lawmaker, the initiative will be part of her efforts in supporting mothers and babies by caring for their needs, health conditions and general living conditions.
The packs donated by the NIDCOM Chairman during the visit containing baby colts, towels, wipes, diapers, moisturizers, clothes, feeding bottles among other items and cash to about 20 mothers in the hospital.
“The Abike Dabiri Foundation has decided to focus on the improvement of infant and maternal mortality rate in Nigeria. We are concerned about the state of living conditions of our mothers and their babies and we want to see how we can be of assistance to them”, she said.
“This is our first outing and we intend to make this often.
“What we are given them are materials that will last babies for some months and cash”, Hon. Abike said.
She also said that the foundation intends to keep in touch with the mothers and their babies to know about how they are faring.
“We are not just donating these cash and items to them but we are also getting their contacts and they too are having ours just in case they need us to assist them more.
“We are also going to be getting in touch with them from time – to – time”.
Hon. Abike, who is also known as ‘Mother Theresa of the Tube’, a nickname that was bestowed on her during her days at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) where she commanded great respect and honour due to the vast viewers that followed her defunct programme, Newsline, also commended Dr Taiwo Hassan, the Medical Director/Chief Executive Officer of the General Hospital Ikorodu for the facelift and service delivery at the hospital.
“I want to commend the General Hospital for taking care of our mothers and babies.
“On arriving here today, I can see a lot of improvement in terms of facilities. This is our own London”, she said.
Dr Taiwo Hassan, in his reaction, described Hon. Abike as a good daughter of the soil and commended her gesture.
“I am elated. It shows that we have a good daughter of the soil in position. She was here some years back to renovate a ward”, Dr Hassan recalled.
“Today, she has returned with her foundation to donate to mothers and their babies”.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Khadijat Sewani, the mother of baby Omotola who was born yesterday and who was privileged to be the first beneficiary of the Hon. Abike Dabiri Foundation’s gesture, thanked the donor and her foundation for the gesture.
Among others that were also full of praises for Hon. Abike were Mrs Wusema Idris, Mrs Nora Uwandi (mother of baby Chidimma) and Mrs Oyekunle Abosede.
The two mothers that gave birth to twins in the two wards visited, Mrs Shade David and Mrs Taofeek Rashidat got double packages and money for their babies.
