NIGERIA'S CHILD MORTALITY IS 20%

TWO hundred children out of every 1000 lives births in Nigeria die before 
they are one year old says Professor Frank Onyezili, Chief Nutritionist
with UNICEF?

This represents a mortality rate of twenty percent.

According to Professor Onyezili the mortality rate for age five is even 
higher.

He further revealed that between ten and fifteen percent of women able 
to give birth also die. 

He also disclosed that 20 out of every 100 children that were born in 
this country weigh less than their correct weights.

According to him the infants were underweight due to malnutrition 
essentially because their mothers also suffered malnutrition.

Professor Onyezili made these revelations at the opening ceremony of the
workshop organised by National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) in
conjunction with UNICEF for the education of nomadic teenage mothers on 
the importance of exclusive breast-feeding, introduction of supplementary 
foods and immunization.

The workshop took place in Barakin Ladi, Plateau State recently.

He commended the NCNE Executive Secretary Professor Gidado Tahir for not 
just sharing this vision on paper but for demonstrating it in person.

He stated that the nomadic people of this country represented a 
significant chunk of those at the grassroots. Where he noted malnutrition 
was largely found.

I want to use Professor Tahir to illustrate the point that there are 
Nigerians who still hold a noble vision and who still executes a noble 
vision, he said.

He commended that Professor Tahir the management of NCNE for providing 
the necessary funds for the workshop saying, We have a situation in which
his commission is providing 100 percent funding at a time when his
counterparts in other government ministries are telling us that the 
national budget has not been approved.

He urged the Federal Government to be forthright in its anti-corruption
and restructuring exercises by taking care of details and avoid the 
possibility of lumping every body and every parastatal into one basket.

He further appealed to the federal government to encourage the National
Commission for Nomadic Education by giving it a chance to express itself.

He pointed out that the commission deserved every encouragement because 
its mandate was relevant and large enough to taken in the interest of
Nigerians especially the migrant population of the country.

In his speech, the NCNE Executive Secretary Professor Gidado Tahir said 
it was part of the commission mandates to provide basic education to 
nomadic children, youths and adults.

 

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