When ulamas resolved to halt infant mortality in the North West

To fill this gap, a brand new approach was initiated by development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), a development non-governmental organization in Nigeria. The programme, which was designed and implemented under a project titled, ‘Saving Lives at Birth’ and supported by Grand Challenges, Canada within the period 2011-2013 in Katsina and Jigawa States in the […]

To fill this gap, a brand new approach was initiated by development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), a development non-governmental organization in Nigeria. The programme, which was designed and implemented under a project titled, ‘Saving Lives at Birth’ and supported by Grand Challenges, Canada within the period 2011-2013 in Katsina and Jigawa States in the North-West.
The project focused on addressing the barriers to Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), via constructed and maintained strategy by some religious and opinion leaders in Katsina and Jigawa states.
Disclosing the motives behind the newly adopted strategy during a media dissemination of a research on ‘Saving Lives at Birth’ programme for religious leaders held in Kano, Dr. Zubairu Iliyasu, a researcher, stated that Islamic scholars occupy an important position in Muslim communities as they influence the lives of their subjects and societal development in general through preaching and their actions. He added that members of their communities look up to them on issues of family life, societal norms, justice, education, commerce and health.
These very important virtues, according to Dr. Musa Muhammad Bello, Department of Community Medicine, Bayero University Kano, have placed religious leaders in a very vital position and Islam, which is a complete way of life, has confirmed and legitimized the social role of Islamic scholars. Based on that, Islamic leaders were chosen from five local governments in the two selected states.
“These selected Islamic leaders were sponsored on a study and interactive tour to Cairo in Egypt and presented with the opportunities of interacting with great Islamic scholars of Egypt. It was also an avenue for them to practically see how applicable the modern aspect of da’awah (preaching) is.
During the study tour, they were enlightened on strategies for selection of topics or themes during their Hudbah (sermons). The seminars also exposed them to fatwah of great Islamic scholars and cleared their doubts regarding some hitherto sensitive health topics relating to family planning and immunization.”
Dr Bello added that the project has revolutionized the perception of maternal newborn and child health programmes (e.g. immunization, child spacing, nutrition) among some Islamic scholars in the two states and also changed Islamic scholars from strong opposition to advocates of maternal newborn and child health programmes.
According to him, this had positively influenced the knowledge and utilization of MNCH services among their community members, with scholars serving as role models.
One of the Ulamas who took part in the sponsored study tour, Sheikh Yusha’u Abubakar, who is an Imam in Dutse, Jigawa State, disclosed that he was initially against a lot of health development issues. According to him, after the tour, his perception of the whole issues changed. “I didn’t believe in donor funding, most especially on issues related to health. I believed there are hidden motives or agenda associated with that; I was very suspicious. However, after the trip to Egypt and reading a lot about our health problems, especially as it affects women and children, I now dedicate 60-70% of my preaching to maternal and child health issues,” he said.
Similarly, another beneficiary of the tour and a female preacher in Katsina State, Malama Binta Abdullahi Lawan, said she used to be at the forefront of preaching to women to reject issues relating to heath matters. According to her, she discouraged women from attending ante-natal and other health-related issues during her preaching sessions.
After the tour, her perception on the whole issues changed, she said, adding that due to interactions with different Islamic scholars in Egypt, she was made to understand a lot of what she initially thought was a riddle.
“However, after the visit my views concerning child healthcare have completely changed positively. When I compared the health workers in Egypt to our own, I realized there was almost nothing here because our government was not serious. Since my return, I have been trying my best to see that I have tactfully retracted what I had inculcated in the minds of the women I preached to,” she stated.
It was also revealed by a research conducted after the study tour that the programme has significantly contributed in the improvement of maternal and newborn health in the two states where it was implemented through the positive pronouncement and declarations made by the religious leaders regarding MNH in both Jigawa and Katsina.
It was also revealed that the programme has contributed to the decline in the infant and maternal mortality rates in the two states. It is also believed that this was achieved by the programme due to the encouragement given to men by the Ulamas, to allow their wives attend ante-natal and post-natal cares, through the preaching and pronouncements made by the religious leaders during their sermons in the two states.