As of 2013, Nigeria has the highest maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a Nigerian woman has a 1 in 13 chance of dying during pregnancy and childbirth. Some identified factors responsible for the high MMR are lack of access to quality healthcare, high cost of treatment due to widespread poverty, illiteracy and a limited number of skilled birth attendants.

Retired for a Reason

Nurudeen Ojo is the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the strongest political party in the community. In addition to his political responsibilities in the region, he is also saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the performances of the midwives. He said the old age of the midwives within the MSS may be the reason for the challenges being encountered.

“You know they are retired and not strong enough to be at the clinic all the time. Furthermore, many of them don’t stay here and they often have to travel which could take time before they get here, and they usually have to leave early too,” Ojo said. “But I always ensure that they work satisfactorily before they get paid, since I have to sign in order for them to be paid from Abuja.”

The limited services being provided by the midwives is further made difficult by the shortage of drugs and other medical supplies. This coupled with the wide belief that healthcare is expensive is making members of rural areas in the Ikereku community — and by extension, several other rural Nigerian communities — resort to traditional medicine, which religious leader, Pastor John Bamidele, said is even more expensive and usually less effective.

Independent Medical Services

“When people go to the primary healthcare center, they are often told there are no drugs and no one to treat them. So they go to the alternative healthcare providers thinking their services are cheap and effective, which often times they are not,” Bamidele said.

Residents of rural communities in Nigeria are now largely dependent on medical outreaches to be able to access good and free healthcare. Osunbunmi Ayokunnumi, medical professional and head of Health Heralds, an organization that provides free medical services to residents of Ikereku community and surrounding villages (about 50), said rural areas are largely abandoned by politicians who often promised heaven and earth while campaigning, but usually end up doing nothing for the rural communities. This he said is part of the reason why there are massive turnouts at his health outreaches.

“We treated over 500 people this time and provided a wide range of services including deworming exercise for the children, dental surgeries, laboratory diagnosis, and treatment of wounds, infections and several other categories of ailments,” Ayokunnumi said.

“I do it because it is what I believe in. I believe in spending my life on something that will outlast it. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”