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…. As traditional ruler, UNICEF, Task Journalists on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.
The Assistant Secretary-General, Muslim Council of Nigeria, Adamawa State, Imam Bashir Tahir, has urged fathers not to compete with their babies over the mother’s breast milk.
Tahir made this known in Yola during a two- day Media Dialogue titled: ‘Beyond Mothers: Analysing the Role of Fathers and Family Members in Promoting Exclusive Breastfeeding for Child Survival’.
The Media Dialogue was organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office (BFO), for media practitioners from Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau and Taraba States.
The cleric, who represented the Chairman of the council at the Media Dialogue, pointed out that God created breast milk strictly for the growth and development of babies.
He pledged the commitment of the council to support UNICEF’s campaign on exclusive breastfeeding saying it is good and Islamic.
“I have never heard such a thing that a father is struggling with his baby for breast milk,” he said during the dialogue.
He assured that misconceptions about breastfeeding will be dispelled in their sermons.
“Any father who drags breast milk with a baby is depriving the child of its benefits,” he cautioned.
“As a father you should be just to your child because if you are unjust as a father you are only sowing a seed of discomfort and disrespect in your family.
“How do you expect to have respect in the house where the father deprives a small child of his rights given by God?
“This message should be preached as part of sensitisation for me.
“There are 1,026 mosques in Adamawa state and if as a council we have an important message such as the importance of exclusive breastfeeding to convey to the Imams, we send such a message to the secretaries who will disseminate it to the Imams.
“The Imams will now convey the message to the people at the respective mosques in the state”.
Tahir, who is the Chief Imam, MOPOL Police Barracks, Yola, said it is a sin for a husband to swallow even a drop of his wife’s breast milk.
“When you sulk the breast milk of your wife she automatically ceases to be your wife and becomes your mother because breast milk was ordained for the mother to feed her baby, not adult,” he said.
He advised husbands sucking their nursing wives’ breasts milk to desist in order not to incur the wrath of God upon their family.
In his own contribution, the District Head of Nyibargo in Adamawa Emirate, Alhaji Abubakar Jika, harped on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.
“I recommend exclusive breastfeeding to my subjects because you cannot give what you don’t have,” the traditional ruler who is an ardent practitioner, told participants at the Media Dialogue.
“I got inspired by my medical friend doctor as far back as when I had my first child.
“Thereafter I encouraged my wife to engage in exclusive breastfeeding and I have seen the immense benefits in the lives of my children.
“From traditional point of view none of us knew much about the benefits of breastfeeding.
“None of us in the society back then would say that his mother practiced exclusive breast feeding.
“There was even a time when female children were not allowed to go to school but things are gradually changing, so also exclusive breastfeeding.
“When it first came most people in our society said no to it saying that they don’t want their children to die.
“Now considering the advantages of exclusive breast feeding, many people are now embracing it.
“So apart from the nutritional benefits for the child and mother, exclusive breastfeeding has huge economic benefits.
“The family will not spend money to meet other family needs during the period of breastfeeding.”
Speaking at the media dialogue, Philomena Irene, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, says this year’s theme, ‘Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All,’ underscores the fund’s commitment to ensuring that every mother in the UNICEF BFO States has access to the support she needs, regardless of her circumstances.
Irene urged journalists to be agents of change in correcting myths and misconceptions surrounding exclusive breastfeeding for the benefits of new born babies for the first 1,000 days of their lives.
She expressed concern that the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) on breastfeeding was poor in the DFO states.
The 2021 MICS showed Adamawa had 53.3 percent practice exclusive breastfeeding, Bauchi recorded 26.4 percent, Gombe had 30.7 percent, Plateau had 38.6 percent while Taraba recorded only 33.7 percent.
“These are not indices that should make one happy,” she said.
“The question is what can we do as change agents to change the narratives? This time around, we want to focus on the gender and expect a different result.
“We must write inspirational stories, we must write with evidence that is true with the practice of exclusive breastfeeding.
“Now, you (media practitioners) are nutrition specialists who will be engaging men to make a difference.
“You need to tell them the benefits of breastfeeding, know their perceptions about it, and progressively create a change in their minds about the practice”
Irene said the media should create a sustained campaign for men to support their breastfeeding wives in all ramifications to enable them to succeed in exclusively breastfeeding their infants for the first 1,000 days of life.
She stressed that the focus should be on fathers who could aid their wives with childcare and household chores so the baby’s mother can take time to breastfeed their babies.
“They are to also talk with family members, including grandmothers, about committing to breast milk only for the baby’s first six months – no water or other liquids or foods as well as talk about the need to feed the baby milk, eggs, and green or orange fruits or vegetables every day,” she stated.
“The fathers are to ensure that animal source foods are always available for the baby by keeping for the family milk and eggs that might otherwise be sold or by purchasing milk and eggs as needed, beginning at six months.
“They are also to check in with their wives about how the plan for feeding the baby is going, at least once a week”
