In a significant development for public health in Niger State, Her Excellency Hajiya Fatima Bago, the wife of the Niger State Governor, has formally lauded the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) for its transformative work. During a courtesy visit by the organization’s leadership in Minna, a collaborative partnership was solidified, promising to expand critical healthcare services to the state’s most vulnerable populations.
Hajiya Fatima Bago expressed profound appreciation for PPFN’s decades-long contributions, which have been particularly impactful in improving health outcomes for women, children, and underserved communities across the state. “I commend what PPFN is doing for women and children, especially in family planning and cervical cancer screening through medical outreaches,” she stated, highlighting two of the most pressing areas in Nigeria’s reproductive health landscape.
This commendation is not merely ceremonial. The Governor’s wife assured the delegation of her active collaboration, pledging to engage relevant state authorities to provide the necessary logistical and political support to amplify PPFN’s outreach. She specifically urged closer synergy with the Niger State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, a move critical for integrating PPFN’s services into the state’s official healthcare framework and ensuring sustainability.
The visit, led by Mr. Mohammed Muregi, Regional Coordinator for PPFN’s North Central Region Office, served as a strategic platform to deepen existing ties. Muregi outlined PPFN’s evolution from a primary focus on family planning to a provider of fully integrated primary healthcare services. This expansion now includes static facilities and monthly medical outreaches offering cervical cancer screening, treatment of minor ailments, and other essential services, particularly in hard-to-reach rural communities.
The scale of PPFN’s operations is substantial. Muregi disclosed that in 2025 alone, the organization provided over 20 million services across the North Central Region. This figure underscores the massive demand and the organization’s capacity as a key implementing partner in the health sector.
A central outcome of the meeting was the formal invitation for Hajiya Fatima Bago to serve as the Patron of PPFN for the North Central Region. This role recognizes her demonstrated advocacy for women, children, and persons with disabilities. Furthermore, PPFN proposed a groundbreaking collaborative initiative: the establishment of a “New Niger Safe Motherhood” program. This initiative, to be spearheaded in partnership with the Governor’s wife’s office, is directly aligned with Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago’s “New Niger Agenda” and aims to create a targeted framework to drastically reduce maternal and infant mortality in the state.
Mr. Muregi also highlighted PPFN’s credential as an organization licensed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to conduct reproductive health training for nurses, doctors, and midwives. This capability points to a potential secondary benefit of the partnership: enhancing the skills of Niger State’s own healthcare workforce, creating a lasting legacy of improved local capacity.
This high-level endorsement and proposed partnership signal a powerful convergence of political will and NGO expertise. By leveraging PPFN’s proven service delivery model, technical expertise, and WHO-backed training credentials with the platform and influence of the Governor’s wife’s office, Niger State is poised to make significant strides in improving reproductive, maternal, and child health outcomes for its citizens.
Edited by Abiemwense Moru
