Nigeria to host UNFPA sub-regional conference on population

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja

From left, Alhaji Bashir Borodo, President,
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria
(MAN); Dr. M. T. I Lawal, Oyo State
Commissioner for Industries, Applied
Science and Technology; Chief Isaac
Akinpade, Chairman Oyo, Osun, Ondo,
Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi states branch of
MAN; and Chief Michael Daramola,
guest speaker and Managing Director,
International Breweries Plc, Ilesa, at the
25th Annual General Meeting of the Oyo,
Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi states
branch of MAN, held at the Jogor Centre,
Ibadan, last Thursday. Photo Yemi
Funso-OkeTHE United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will bring traditional and religious leaders from other 20 African countries to join Nigeria in a sub-regional conference on population and development in Sokoto on Wednesday.

Specifically, the one week conference which commences on July 16, is geared towards effectively involving the traditional and religious leaders in a recent move to reduce maternal mortality and survival of women especially at child birth.

Titled: “Conference on the Role of Traditional and Religious Leaders on Reduction of Maternal Mortality, Survival of Women,” the UNFPA, in a paper made available to the media in Abuja, said they have a critical role to play to reduce maternal mortality and promote maternal health.

The conference, which will bring together traditional and religious leaders from Nigeria, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’ Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda.

The meeting, according to the paper, is aimed at increasing knowledge and understanding of the causes and consequences of maternal mortality as a key development challenge, as well as strengthening the capacity of traditional and religious leaders to assist people and communities to reduce maternal mortality and have better quality of life.

It will also help to develop a sub-regional plan of action that identifies concrete actions to be undertaken by the traditional and religious leaders to strengthen their partnerships and capacity to act to improve maternal mortality and to strengthen traditional and religious leaders’ networks to operate in support of International Conference on Population and Development.

The UNFPA said the conference would allow the leaders to share experience, achievements, best practices and lessons learned and provide better understanding of causes and consequences of maternal mortality among traditional and religious leaders.

It will also prepare them better as advocates for and facilitators of reduction of maternal mortality and increased awareness on issues of reproductive health, gender and population and development.

The Fund revealed that an estimated 30, 000 women die yearly from complications related to pregnancy and child birth in the country, adding that this figure was from an estimated half a million women who die yearly in child birth or due to pregnancy related causes

Majority of the 30, 000 Nigerian women who die at child birth, the UNFPA said, were from the North West and North East regions of the country.

The UNFPA described this development as unacceptable, saying, “one of the major development and health challenges facing developing countries, particularly those in Africa is the unacceptably high levels of maternal deaths arising from complications related to pregnancy and child birth.”

It stated that the lives lost could be saved if all women had access to reproductive health services care during pregnancy and skilled medical attendance.

The UNFPA added that increasing the survival of mothers was a crucial international developmental challenge; hence, the sub-regional conference on the role of traditional and religious leaders on the reduction of maternal mortality as well as survival of women.

FG, states, LGs shared N61bn in June 2008

Gbola Subair, Abuja

THE Federal Government, states and the 774 local government councils in the country shared N611bn in June 2008. From documents obtained by Nigeria ’s economic magazine, the Economic Confidential, a total sum of N611.7bn was disbursed to the tiers of government in June 2008 at the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in Abuja.

The total allocation came from accounts of Statutory Revenue, VAT and Domestic Excess Crude Proceeds. The Economic Confidential stated that the disbursements were made to Federal Government, states (with their Local Government Councils) and two revenue generating agencies (Nigerian Customs Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service).

From the disbursement in June 2008, the highest recipients are mostly oil producing states of Rivers which received N23bn, Akwa Ibom N16.5bn, Delta N11.8bn, Bayelsa N10.5bn and Ondo N7.3bn. The highest recipients from non-oil–producing states are Lagos N10bn, Kano N9.6bn, Katsina N6.9bn and Oyo N6.6bn.

The lowest recipients with less than N7 billion as authoritatively revealed Iby the Economic Confidential are Ekiti N3.9bn, Nasarawa N3.8bn, Gombe N3.8bn and Ebonyi N3.7bn.

The Economic Confidential also stated other disbursements in June 2008: Federal, N189.8bn, FCT Councils, N1bn. Though the revenue generating agencies could not benefit from the bonuses from the excess crude disbursement, they nevertheless received the monthly statutory and VAT Allocation. Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) received N1.6bn and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) N2.4 billion.