Expanding territories, MamaYe jigs up Jigawa!

Expectations were high on the day we launched MamaYe in Jigawa State. The venue was decorated in lively colours, depicting the kind of hope and excitement that should accompany pregnancy and safe childbirth.The top officials in the State’s health system showed absolute commitment; they came, witnessed the launch and welcomed MamaYe to the State.Because we are MamaYe, it is not in our attitude to let any show of commitment go unnoticed. So, Dr Tunde Segun, the Country Director for Evidence for Action’s MamaYe heartily welcomed our guests with great commendation for attending. He also commended the Government of Jigawa State for making the launch of MamaYe possible as MamaYe works to support efforts that will make a life-saving change for pregnant women and their babies.But Jigawa wouldn’t let us blow their trumpet for them! The Chairman, Free MNCH Partners in Jigawa State, Baffa Nahaya assured us that the commitment of Jigawa State to health development was deliberate and unflinching. He said that the Free MNCH Partners were passionate and fully involved in advocacy, which was why they were very interested in partnering with MamaYe to improve MNCH in the State.Baffa NahayaAnd when we thought we could test our guests on “about MamaYe”, the Jigawa State Health Commissioner, Dr Tafida Abubakar, who was our chief host, aptly told the gathering that “MamaYe is about combating maternal and newborn fatalism and changing it to hope through actions based on scientific evidence and backed by political will”!Dr Tafida AbubakarThe goodwill message of the Gunduma Health System Board, Pharmacist Usman Tahir, was also exciting. He said “MamaYe is an innovative way of saving lives of mothers and babies.”The State Program Officer for State Accountability and Voice Initiative (one of the intervention partners we work with) in Jigawa State, Abdulhamid Bagara, highlighted the need to harness the system that is already working in the State (as MamaYe is doing!).Abdulhamid commended Jigawa State’s government for having the political will to allot 14% of the State’s budget to the health sector, and also craved the health Commissioner’s commitment to ensuring that the Free Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (Free MNCH) Bill became a law.In his response, the health Commissioner said that “CSOs and partners have played a vital role and Jigawa State will remain grateful to them.” He also said that he was one of the architects of the Free MNCH Bill.The Commissioner believed, and stated clearly so, that political commitment was more important than making bills. He buttressed this with the fact that the administration of the Governor of the State, Sule Lamido, has put the health sector in the fore front in Jigawa State and has made the State reach more than 14% of the Abuja Declaration to the health sector. He said over 140 Primary Healthcare Centres have also been built over the past 6 years.Jigawa State is the leading State that has fulfilled the commitment made in the Abuja Declaration of allocating 15% of budget to health.MamaYe Jigawa launch attendeesWhile rallyingsupport for the MamaYe campaign, the Commissioner noted that the topics chosen for the MamaYe launch showed that MamaYe had in-depth knowledge of the Jigawa State health sector.Before we launched in Jigawa State, we have been recognising and awarding heroes and heroines that have taken bold steps to save lives of mothers and babies. Read about the wonderful contributions of Phoebe and Aminu Jahun to saving lives of mothers and babies.We didn’t stop at that, as we recognised and awarded more deserving people during at the launch. At MamaYe, we believe that no effort to save a life of a pregnant woman or a newborn should go unnoticed. See honoured MamaYe Jigawa State heroes and heroinesYou too should be part of this effort because, together, we are MamaYe!