5 December 2007
Kwara — Founder of The WellBeing Foundation (WBF) and wife of the Governor of Kwara State, Mrs. Toyin Saraki has received a merit award for her contribution to the reproductive health of women and the survival of children in Nigeria.
Presenting the award to Mrs Saraki at her office in Ilorin on Monday, Chief Executive Officer of the Inspirational Group, organizers of the Fourth Inspirational Youth Forum, Dr. Dapo Adesokan said his group was encouraged by the effort Mrs Saraki and a few other Nigerians have made in the past few years to draw the attention of Nigerians to the frightening level of maternal and infant mortality in the country and the fact that these mortalities are largely avoidable if simple things were done by government, society and members of the family of pregnant women.
He noted that Mrs. Saraki had become a role model for the youth in Nigeria and that her nomination for the award was meant to encourage more people, particular the youth to see the service of humanity and the advancement of the good of the generality of the society over and above any other gains.
Our main motivation is your individual contribution and selfless service in helping our women and children survive.
There are of course many who deserve an award in this sphere, but we have found you to have done exceptionally well in reaching out to women and children, especially the underprivileged and an encouragement to the youth.
He noted that the development of any society was dependent on how much attention is given to the health needs of women and children and expressed the hope that more people will join the campaign for better attention for the health needs of women and children.Reacting, Mrs. Saraki thanked the organizers of the award for the recognition. She apologized for not being part of the event when it held in Abuja saying that "I had earlier received and accepted an invitation to deliver the keynote address at the launching of Child Health magazine in Lagos, that was why I sent you the goodwill message and apologies that I could not make it physically.â-She pointed out that young men and women should realize that it was important to be of service to the society and that for Nigeria to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the issues of Maternal and Child Health as represented in MDGs 4 and 5 were very important. She promised to rededicate herself to the fight to end this unacceptable trend and ask that all Nigerians join in making pregnancies and delivery safer for women and give live to newborns and children.
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