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Midwives critical to reducing maternal, newborn deaths in Africa – WHO
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By Francesca Hangeior
The Acting World Health Organisation Regional Director for Africa, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, has commended the lifesaving work of midwives across Africa, describing them as the frontline guardians of maternal and newborn health.
In a message to commemorate the International Day of Midwife on Monday, Ihekweazu stated that midwives were critical actors in every health crisis and decried the 6.1million health worker shortfall.
The 2025 theme is “Midwives: Critical in Every Crisis.”
He decried the maternal and newborn death rates in the region, further emphasising that the efforts of midwives have been important in reducing maternal mortality.
The WHO noted that over one million newborns and 178,000 mothers die every year in the region.
While South Sudan accounts for the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, Nigeria ranks third with 512 deaths and 100,000 live births.
In a message on the WHO website, Ihekweazu said, “Aligned with the momentum of World Health Day 2025 and its theme, Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures, this year’s celebration calls for greater recognition and investment in midwives, the people who make healthy beginnings possible.
“In the African Region, where over one million newborns and 178,000 mothers die each year, midwives are a lifeline. They deliver skilled, compassionate care across the entire continuum of reproductive and maternal health, often in the most difficult and resource-limited settings. Their efforts have been pivotal in reducing maternal mortality, with the regional average dropping from 727 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000, to 442 in 2023.”
He noted that the 2025 theme reflects a challenging reality, stating that midwives serve in fragile health systems, conflict zones, and through natural disasters and pandemics.
“In many cases, they are the only providers of sexual and reproductive health services in their communities,” he added.
The Acting Regional Director further noted that despite a projected shortage of 6.1 million health workers in the African Region by 2030, important progress has been made.
He stated that between 2013 and 2022, the number of midwives nearly doubled, from 173,269 to over 334,000, noting that this growth reflects what is possible with political will, coordinated investment, and focused strategies.
Despite the growth in the region, Nigeria is currently facing a mass exodus of medical practitioners.
PUNCH Healthwise reports that over 7,500 nurses and midwives left the country in five years.
In 2023, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives stated that to close the gap caused by the mass emigration, the country needed about 70,000 midwives.
Continuing, Ihekweazu stated that WHO continues to work closely with Member States to expand competency-based midwifery education, improve workforce density, and embed midwives in national health and emergency preparedness strategies.
“In 2024, Member States endorsed the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter, a shared commitment to long-term investment in health workers. Zimbabwe’s new Investment Compact, for example, will mobilise an additional $166 million annually for three years to strengthen its health workforce, with midwives at the centre.
“Still, too many midwives work without proper tools, pay, protections or opportunities for advancement. Their voices are often excluded from the policy decisions that affect their work, and the lives of the people they serve,” he added.
He urged governments to ensure midwives were integrated into emergency preparedness plans, protected in crisis response and supported with mental health resources and fair working conditions.
“Education must evolve to equip them with skills in trauma-informed care, conflict sensitivity and leadership.
“When midwives are trained, respected and empowered, health systems grow stronger, and every mother and child has a better chance at life.
“WHO stands with midwives, today and every day. Let us move beyond symbolic recognition.
“Let’s act, because midwives are not only critical in every crisis. They are essential to every solution,” the acting regional director said.
News
Speaker Abbas Urges Unity, Compassion as Muslims Mark Eid-el-Kabir
By Gloria Ikibah
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has extended Eid-el-Kabir greetings to Muslims across Nigeria, encouraging them to strengthen their devotion to Allah and remain hopeful about the nation’s future.
In a message released on Monday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi, the Speaker emphasised the importance of compassion and generosity during the festive period, particularly towards the poor and vulnerable members of society.
Abbas noted that caring for the less privileged remains a central teaching of Islam and urged citizens to use the occasion to deepen the spirit of support, sacrifice and communal harmony.
The Speaker also reflected on the spiritual significance of Eid-el-Kabir, describing it as a symbol of complete obedience to the will of Allah, as demonstrated by Prophet Ibrahim.
He further called on Nigerians to offer prayers for peace, unity and progress in the country as Muslims celebrate the festival across the nation.
He said: There are several lessons to learn from the life of Prophet Ibrahim (AS), including faith in Allah (SWT) and submission and obedience to constituted authorities, this period calls for a deep reflection”.
Speaker Abbas urged Nigerians to remain selfless and sacrifice their lives, time, and resources to the worship of Allah (SWT) and humanity.
“As the country approaches the general elections next year, the Speaker called for special prayers for peaceful polls. He equally urged Nigerians to pray for the country, the government at all levels, unity, prosperity, and political stability”, he added.
News
African PR Scholar Ibietan Backs ‘The Insecurity Triad’ Framework
By Gloria Ikibah
The Insecurity Triad, an analytical model created by scholar and journalist Dr Max Amuchie, has received strong backing from respected African public relations academic Dr Omoniyi Ibietan, further cementing the framework’s growing relevance within scholarly debate.
Dr Amuchie, who leads Sundiata Post and writes the syndicated “Sunday Stew column”, recently explored the concept in the latest edition of the weekly publication carried by Premium Times. In a subsequent review, Dr Ibietan described the framework as a significant contribution to contemporary African political and security discourse.
Ibietan, who serves as Secretary-General of the African Public Relations Association and lectures on the Rome Business School DBA Programme, situated ‘The Insecurity Triad’ alongside the works of leading thinkers in African political economy and post-colonial studies, signalling its emerging place within serious academic engagement.
“The first part of this took me back to Achille Mbembe, one of Africa’s leading representations of activistic scholarship,” Dr. Ibietan stated.
“Amuchie offered me a refreshing, lovely insight of the works of Mazrui, Ake, Bayart, (William) Reno — especially his treatise on the ‘Relocation of Authority’ — and of course Mbembe. It was a meta-analytical enterprise. So compelling was it that it shaped my theoretical framing for a new paper I just submitted on Crisis Communication in the Agatu Crisis. Needless to say, this is also beautiful.”
Ibietan, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, made his views known in a message sent to Ololade Bamidele, editorial page editor of Premium Times in response to the May 24 edition of Amuchie’s The Sunday Stew Column titled ‘The Insecurity Triad: Azikiwe, Awolowo, and Chinweizu — Nigeria’s Elite Class of Framework Builders’.
“Thank you Ololade Bamidele. Please tell Dr. Amuchie to keep it coming. The first part of this took me back to Mbembe (one of Africa’s leading representation of activistic scholarship). Amuchie offered me a refreshing, lovely insight of the works of Mazrui, Ake, Bayart, Reno (not Omokri, please but William Reno, especially his treatise on the ‘Relocation of Authority’) and of course Mbembe. It was a meta-analytical enterprise. So, compelling was it that it shaped my theoretical framing for a new paper I just submitted on Crisis Communication in the Agatu Crisis. Needless to say this is also beautiful,” Ibietan wrote in the message to Bamidele.
A Paradigm Shift in African Security Analysis
Amuchie’s The Insecurity Triad framework moves away from recycled, surface-level security paradigms, offering a structured, indigenous lens to examine African conflicts through three converging pillars: Money, Land, and Mind. By mapping the interplay between illicit capital flows (Money), territorial sovereignty disputes (Land), and weaponised radicalisation or identity manipulation (Mind), the framework makes highly chaotic ecosystems of violence legible to researchers and policy-makers alike in Nigeria and the Sahel region.
The Insecurity Triad is now disseminated across six global academic repositories — the US-based Social Science Research Network (SSRN); Harvard Dataverse, owned by Harvard University; Zenodo, operated by the European Council for Nuclear Science; SocArXiv, managed by the Open Science Framework, based the University of Maryland in the United States; ResearchGate, the global networking platform for scholars based in Germany and Academia.edu. On April 26 The Insecurity Triad formally received the endorsement of the Rotary Action Group for Peace, Nigeria chapter after Amuchie’s keynote speech as guest of honour at the Group’s bi-weekly fellowship.
Amuchie has also developed a companion model, the Trinity of State Decay, which theorises the structural condition produced when the Insecurity Triad operates unchecked — a decoupling of authority into the Institutional Mirage and rival Shadow Orders.
News
Police nab six over Killing of Ebonyi monarch, recover AK-47
Operatives of the Ebonyi State Police Command have nabbed six suspects over the alleged killing of the traditional ruler of Ishinkwo Community, HRH Eze Josephat Nnanna Ikegwu.
The arrests followed an intelligence-led investigation into the murder of the monarch, which occurred at his residence on April 2, 2026.
The development was disclosed in a press statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ebonyi State Command, SP Joshua Ukandu, dated May 26, 2026, and made available to journalists in Abakaliki.
According to the statement, the suspects arrested are Ucha Johnson, Ogobuchi Igwe, Nkpuma Nwankwo, Edwin Onwoshi, Itumo Joseph, and Emmanuel Nwaoba.
Police said that during the operation, officers recovered one AK-47 rifle loaded with eight rounds of live ammunition.
Speaking on the arrests, the Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State Command, CP Hope Urunwa Okafor, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to ensuring justice in the case.
“No individual involved in criminality will be allowed to evade justice,” Okafor said.
She further assured residents of the state that the command would sustain efforts to combat violent crimes and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
It was gathered that the suspects are expected to be arraigned on Tuesday at the Magistrate Court in Abakaliki.
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