Musa Ubandawaki
The District Head of Gagi and a strong advocate of family planning in Sokoto state, Sani Umar Jabbi, has called on Sokoto State Houses of Assemblies nationwide to enact a law that will mandate potential couples to undergo HIV, Sickle cell, and Genotype certificates before marriage.
The monarch made the remarks in his goodwill message at a recent one-day media roundtable organized and sponsored by The Challenge Initiative (TCI) and DevComs in Sokoto State.
Jabbi said the method is the only remedy that can be achieved when stakeholders and civil society organizations lead the advocacy to members of legislatures in the state.
According to him stakeholders and members of communities are the pillars that will help civil society organizations to push for the establishment of the law that will provide mandatory HIV tests by any intending couple before marriage.
He said Evidence-based advocacy is the engine that drives progress on family planning and makes the partnership’s goals possible, therefore in this move, civil societies have to play a central role in actualizing the process.
Jabbi further stated that as traditional rulers and community leaders, they would continue to push as advocates of family planning the state assembly to enact the law to reduce the spread of diseases among our societies,” he added.
He called for collective efforts and partnership of religious and traditional leaders to advance advocacy by facilitating a stronger and more coordinated approach to effective service delivery.
In her remarks, the Executive Secretary of Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SSPHCDA), Dr. Larai Aliyu Tambuwal, commended Devcom/TCI for organizing the interactive session.
Dr. Tambuwal said the roundtable would go a long way in advancing more awareness of the benefits of family planning among various communities in the state.
Represented by a Director in the Agency, Dr Tukur Garba Magaji, said that media is key in disseminating relevant information on family planning activities.
The Executive Secretary noted that the state government has invested hugely in health care, particularly in family planning and its acceptance has always increased.
Also speaking, the state Media Coordinator Devcom/TCI, Alhaji Musa Ubandawaki, said the major objectives of the meeting were to present and discuss the organization’s media engagement in support of the state family planning program.
He further said it was to present preliminary results of 2023/2024 national demographic and health survey findings.
Ubandawaki also said the meeting was to support the state government to achieve greater self-reliance to scale up family planning and AYSRH-impact interventions leading to sustained improvement in the urban health system and increased use of modern strategies.
The State Manager Devcom/TCI, Dr. Bello Muhammad Kilgori, made an extensive presentation on preliminary 2023/2024 national demographic and health survey findings, successes, challenges, and the way forward.
