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Lack of education, poverty, among others have been identified by experts as the main drivers of the poor demographic indices in Nigeria.
A study of the 2018 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHD)Report on Thursday shows that the effective demographic assessment of any country is critical to promoting its socioeconomic and Human development as well as boosting the country’s capacity to meet the Sustainable development goals.
The NDHS which focus on analysing and evaluate programs and strategies to improving the general healthcare delivery shows a rather poor growth in Nigeria.
Maureen Zubie-Okolo, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, UNICEF speaking during a media dialogue on National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) in Port Harcourt, said that illitracy, place of residence as well as poverty has often led to the increase in mother and child deaths recorded during and after delivery in Nigeria.
“She said, a careful look at this report shows that childhood mortality is generally higher among children of less educated and poorer mothers, hence we need to invest in educating and empowering these women”.
“The under-5 mortality is still high in Nigeria and we need to develop strategies to tackle this menace by improving the services provided to women during and after pregnancy”, she said.
Speaking further, Zubie-Okolo said that there is need for governments at all levels to increase investment in children and women health-care delivery as infant mortality rate as well as under 5 mortality rate stands at 67 deaths and 132 deaths per 1000 annual live birth respectively.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Chief of field, Port Harcourt, Guy Yogo, in his remark said that Nigeria is faced with prevailing health issues which has continued to affect the nation’s demographic growth.
He said that available data shows that more children in Nigeria today are left behind in thebnation’s development plans thereby undermining the child right act. “We have a vision to mobilise resources to promote children’s rights”.
“Our momentum is geared towards the acceleration of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). We will change the narratives by speaking on the situation of children and putting forth an accurate narrative about our journey, and move to ensure that we achieve our goals.
“Data available from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), indicates that we still have a lot of health challenges that needs to be surmounted. However, we are very hopeful we can make it.
“For example, under-five mortality is still very high at 132 deaths per 1,000 live births. Also, maternal mortality rate is still high. It is inexplicable that in the 21st century women still lose their lives from child birth”.
He further added: “To reduce this trend, we need serious awareness to build coalition about the vision of Nigeria and social demands from communities to improve their rights.
“Quality dialogue between policy makers, civil society organizations, communities, children, men, and women will not be possible without the collaboration of the media. We need to accelerate efforts and raise awareness because SDG 2030 is just around the corner”.
The Head of Child Rights Information Bureau, Federal Ministry of Information, Olumide Osanyinpeju, in his remark said “The need to use data figures accurately in the advocacy reports of Development Partners like UNICEF and other Agencies is paramount to the government of the Federation, to guide against contentious issues.
“It has become very urgent and important not only to the Government of Nigeria, but also to key Partners and Stakeholders. Against this backdrop, this Media Dialogue is not only timely but also on point.
“Both Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) are survey initiatives designed to assist countries, Nigeria inclusive, in filling data gaps for monitoring human development in general and the situation of children and women in particular.
“These surveys have been instrumental in strengthening national statistics capacities, highlighting and filling gaps in quality data, monitoring and tracking progress toward national and international development goals like the SDGs and, in identifying emerging issues and disparities among groups in societies.
“Collecting quality data is necessary, but not sufficient. Data must also be disseminated in a user- friendly way to ensure that they are understood and used. Data also informs policy decisions and enhance advocacy and public awareness on priority development issues”.
Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja
