The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that only 10 out of 36 states of the Federation, including Niger State, have approved the six-month maternity leave with full pay.

The Chief of Kaduna Field Office, UNICEF, Dr. Gerida Birukila, represented by Health Specialist Dr. Ahmed Tsofo, who gave the hint in Minna during the 2025 World Breastfeeding Week, stated that UNICEF is advocating to various governments to ensure that the six-month maternity leave as a policy is approved and fully implemented.

“We are giving support at all levels of government so that it will be strictly applied, adding that indices for breastfeeding in Niger state is 15.7 per cent, while at the national level it is 34 per cent,” she added.

Unveiling Breastfeeding Week, the wife of the Niger State Governor, Hajiya Fatima Bago, encouraged lactating mothers to breastfeed their children exclusively within the first six months, revealing that only 15 per cent of women in the state have adhered to the practice.

Bago’s words: “Breastfeeding helps in a way of family planning and prevents diseases from affecting the children. And so we encourage mothers to breastfeed up till 23 months.”

Also, the team lead of the UNICEF U-Report, Aisha Ndagi, during a sensitisation move to various communities in Tunga, in Minna metropolis, said the essence is to ensure women adhere strictly to the six months exclusive breastfeeding, the benefits and the importance.

Earlier, the Commissioner of Primary Health Care, Dr. Ibrahim Dangana, explained that all breastfeeding mothers in the state are benefiting from the six-month maternity leave, adding that it has been gazetted and is already in practice.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Gana, the Commissioner confirmed that, in Niger state, the State Executive Council has granted approval for the six months paid maternity leave for all lactating mothers for the first six months after delivery.