*Why I Won’t Stop Having Children
FORMER President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday, January 19, called for better care for children, being the bedrock of any society’s future.
Declaring that he will “never stop having children,”
although he no longer gives birth and his children are now adults, he stated that the circle of life continues through his grandchildren and subsequent generations.
Speaking when he hosted executives of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, led by its President, Ekanem Ekure, at his residence inside the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, the former President said pediatricians play a very important role in ensuring the well-being of children and should, therefore, never be tire of raising the bar of excellence and doing much more for children, whom he described as the hope and future of any society.
Obasanjo said because of the importance of having healthy children in society, he would be willing to accept the advocacy role from the association and would always support efforts towards uplifting the well-being of children.
“As a specialist in medical care of children, your profession is a profession of life and death. As a pediatrician, you are very unique because you deal with children.
“The problem of dealing with children is that they are not like adults, so you must be able to feel for them. If it were to be me who comes to you as an adult, you will ask me where I am having the pain, whether it’s the right or the left, how I feel at night, but the children won’t be able to say all that.
“So, your area of specialisation is therefore very unique. The task you have given me as an advocate for the children is one I will gladly accept.
“I am no longer giving birth to children, because my children are now adults, but my children are still having children, and my grandchildren are having children.
“So, I will never stop having children, because when I stopped, my children would not stop, and when my children stopped, my grandchildren would not stop, and the cycle continues.
“I, therefore, encourage you to keep doing your best to offer utmost care to our children, who are really our future.”
Ekure had earlier described Obasanjo as a global icon and a leader committed to advancing the welfare and well-being of people worldwide.
She said that the association was in Abeokuta for its 57th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference and would also like the former President to be an advocate for the well-being of the children, adding: “We have come to appeal to you to be an advocate for the children of Nigeria. More than half of Nigerians are children and adolescents, and they are a great asset to the country.
“Sadly, these assets are battling diseases that could be prevented, violations of human rights and their well-being, malnutrition, and that’s worrisome.
“That’s the reason why we have come to you, we know you hold a special, unique place as a former president, an elder statesman and that position makes your voice strong and loud.
“Anything you say will be listened to by the people in government and the people in public.”
She lamented that “most recent national surveys show that neonatal mortality has not declined; instead, it has steadily increased.
“Children who survive the newborn period are still dying from malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea, diseases the world already knows how to prevent and treat.”
Ekure blamed vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, poverty, insecurity and weak health financing for Nigeria’s high burden of preventable child deaths, warning that the resurgence of diseases, such as measles, in some parts of the country was a global trends where immunisation rates have fallen.
