Sanwo-Olu, Iyalode Tinubu Rally Support for Exclusive Breastfeeding
The wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu and the Iyalode of Lagos, Alhaja Chief (Mrs.) Bintu Fatima Tinubu have called on the Federal, State and Local Governments, socially-responsible organisations, individuals and communities to step up the welfare of breastfeeding mothers as well as provide more enabling environments for exclusive breastfeeding in Nigeria.
The First Lady of Lagos who was represented by the wife of the Deputy Governor of the State, Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat and the Iyalode of Lagos who is also the Chairperson of AFRIBABY Initiative made the call at the 19 th AFRIBABY Babies & Moms Exhibition organized in celebration of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week (WBW).
The 2022 WBW was themed “Step up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support” and held recently at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Lagos, sponsored by Northwest Petroleum & Gas Company Limited.
While Hajia Tinubu emphasized the need for all and sundry to encourage breastfeeding for increased survival of new-borns, the First Lady drew the attention of the large crowd at the event to the global theme of 2022 World Breastfeeding Week, which she said, seeks to involve governments at all levels, progressive organisations, communities, and individuals to raise awareness about sustainable breastfeeding environment.
Also speaking in her capacity as the wife of the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Hamzat called on the Federal Government to endorse the global Innocenti Declaration of 1990 and proclaim that all babies have the inalienable right to be breastfed. Innocenti Declaration 1990 recognized that breastfeeding provides ideal nutrition for infants and contributes to their healthy growth and development. Iyalode Tinubu added that mothers must not deprive babies of their ‘natural right’ which is breast milk.
She said, “every baby has a right to be breastfed and as a mother if you are not giving the baby breast milk, you are depriving the baby its natural right. As such, we urge the government at all levels to persuade organizations to provide crèches and daycare centres for career- mothers to breastfeed and take care of their babies while on duty’’.
She added that the government should make it mandatory for airports and other major travel points in the country to have breastfeeding and infant changing rooms.
“Institutions, including churches, transport companies, eateries and other public places should have breastfeeding and babycare points. Government, public and private organizations should have crèches in their premises where a mother, after working for some hours, can go to breastfeed her baby and go back to work,’’ she said.
She also advocated that mothers should breastfeed exclusively for six months and thereafter, introduce complementary food for at least one year.
To kick-start the massively-attended international event, the President and Founder of AFRIBABY Initiative, Dr. Oscar Odiboh recalled that in 2013, the NGO took a bill to the Seventh National Assembly and the Lagos State House of Assembly asking for six months of maternity leave for breastfeeding mothers and two weeks paternity leave for biological fathers of breastfeeding babies.
He praised the Lagos State Government and other State governments in the country that have passed the bill and encouraged other State governments to do the same.
Dr. Odiboh reiterated that AFRIBABY is a Non-Governmental Organisation committed to addressing problems of infant and maternal survival in Nigeria and Africa at large through global celebrations, exhibitions, symposia and nannies training, baby adoption programmes and advocacy against stealing, selling, swapping and trafficking of babies.
He said that the NGO provides a platform for generating and disseminating the latest information through interactive discourses on the safety of new births and maternal joy, hence, the adoption of the ‘Great Mothers, Happy Babies’ pay off in all the communication of the organisation.
