The leadership of the Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Nigeria on Tuesday praised the Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, for what it said were his contributions towards reducing child and maternal mortality in the country.
A delegation of the society led by Oladapo Ladipo said in Akure on Tuesday during a courtesy call on Mimiko that the association is to confer on him its Distinguished Fellow award later this year.
Mr Ladipo, who commended the state government’s Abiye (Safe Motherhood) programme that gives equal access to children and wives of both the rich and poor at no cost, said such an initiative should be emulated by other states in the country.
According to him, most of the maternal death globally was occasioned by discrepancies in the geographical, economic and political settings, which he said must be critically addressed.
“No other governor in this country has done so much as you have done,” Mr Ladipo said. “You have gone a step forward. Indeed, you are a visionary leader. That you associated with key factors to save humanity shows that you are a visionary governor. You established mother and child hospital, your Abiye motherhood programme has been recognised globally. What you have put in place to ensure that mothers do not die, this reflects your kind of leadership even at the political level. People are happy when their efforts are appreciated. For this reason, the society is not in doubt at all that you are a great leader.”
Impacting on lives
Mr Mimiko thanked the society for appreciating his government’s efforts at transforming the lives of the people and vowed to continue to impact more on the lives of the people in different areas.
He also assured that his administration would leverage on their experience to improve the health sector in the state.
“That this recognition is coming from you, I must tell you, for me it is even bigger than the endorsement of Abiye by the World Bank as a template for Africa, coming from professionals like you, I must thank you,” Mr Mimiko said. “I can assure you that this will be a further challenge for us to do more. I want to thank you on behalf of the people of this state. I assure you that we will continue to do more. By the time you visit this state next year, we will have surpassed what you have seen in terms of what we will keep doing. Not only for the mother and child hospital, but for the future of our children”.
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