Some women in Bauchi state have testified that the introduction of the Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) during antenatal care was a life saving medication reducing maternal mortality rate in the state.

Some of the women spoke with newsmen on Monday while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Bauchi Field Office led some journalists to observe the level of acceptance and testimonies from them.

According to them, the intake of the MMS has eliminated all sorts of fatigue, weaknesses and sickness that accompanied pregnancy making them feel less worried about the delivery day.

A 26-year old Maryam Musa with nine months pregnancy, who explained that she initially felt reluctant taking the MMS drug due to its size and colour, said the acceptance of the drugs had greatly helped her and the pregnancy.

READ ALSO:Bauchi Records 75 Homicide Cases, 28 Kidnapping Cases, Others – Official

“This is my first time having a baby and I’ve been taking MMS along with folic acid but the MMS is very effective because before I started using, I did fall sick but after the medication everything stopped.

“I can feel the baby moving in my belly and I do all my house chores myself and I’m calling on all pregnant women to register for antenatal care because it’s very important to you as a mother and the baby,” she said.

She advised women who collect money from their husband, lying that the drugs were sold to them to desist, adding that their well-being and that of their baby should be their top priority.

Also, a first time physically challenged pregnant woman, Khadija Mai-Auduga who spoke through an interpreter, said even since she started taking the Multiple Micronutrient Supplements twice daily as prescribed, she hadn’t complained of anything so far.

Mai-Auduga, who explained that her husband is also physically challenged, said he has been supportive of her antenatal care and the intake of the MMS because they wanted to have a healthy child.

READ ALSO:HIV: 29,874 Bauchi Residents Under Treatment, 650 Infants Recover From Infection – Commissioner

A mother of six Aisha Usman who acknowledged that she hadn’t taken the MMS before except during her last birth, said the baby came out differently from others.

“I’ve never taken the MMS drugs until this last baby and I really enjoyed myself. The baby came out differently from the rest of the children. She is very healthy .

“I’m calling on all pregnant women to be taking that MMS because it’s very important for you, the mother and the baby.

“In fact the last one I had was a stillborn baby because I didn’t take any drug but this one came with no complication at all thanks to the MMS,” she said.

Auwa Adamu, Head of facility,
Primary Healthcare Centre Kofar Ran, also referred to as Urban Maternity explained that those pregnant women without a trace of anemia were administered MMS only.

“For those that have mild and moderate anemia, we give them the MMS plus the folic acid while we normally refer those with severe anemia for further management,” said Adamu.

READ ALSO:Bauchi Govt Procures 13 Tuberculosis X-ray Machines Worth $1.9m

She said that the impact of MMS has been excellent as mothers have been looking more healthier and the babies delivered at the centre have been looking healthier as well.

Speaking with newsmen, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board (BSPHDB) said the MMS contained 13 mineral elements plus two folic acids geared to ensure that mothers got all the energy, vitality, and supplements needed for herself and her baby.

These supplements, he said, are capable of reducing maternal mortality, anemia which is also one of the causes of maternal mortality.

Philomena Irene, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, said that 134,280 bottles of MMS were provided to Bauchi State through UNICEF as part of the scale-up with support from the Kirk Foundation and training of the Health and community workers by Gates Foundation.

She added that UNICEF would continue to ensure that MMS is integrated into routine antenatal care, train frontline health workers and supervisors on counselling, side-effect management and adherence support.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has supported the Bauchi state government with 1.5 million doses of vitamin A to help build a strong immune system, and healthy growth.

Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office, Bauchi stated this on Monday during the flagging off ceremony of the Bauchi State Maternal, Newborn and Child
Health Week (MNCHW).

Represented by Dr Jackson Martins, UNICEF’s Nutrition Officer, Rafique said that UNICEF also supported the state with 47,000 bottles of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) to tackle maternal and child mortality.

According to her, vitamin A is a vital micronutrient for child growth and development, emphasising that deficiency at an early age could lead to preventable childhood blindness and significantly increase the risk of death from common illnesses like diarrhea.

READ ALSO:Bauchi Records 75 Homicide Cases, 28 Kidnapping Cases, Others – Official

“Periodic high-dose vitamin A supplementation is a proven, low-cost intervention that reduces all-cause mortality by 12 to 24 per cent, making it a critical component of efforts to lower child mortality.

“MMS is recommended for pregnant women because many have multiple micronutrient deficiencies that affect maternal health and fetal outcomes.

“We encourage caregivers, mothers, and fathers to take advantage of this opportunity to protect children from preventable diseases and ensure they are well nourished for a healthy and productive life,” she said.

Also speaking, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board (BSPHDB) said that the MNCH week is a bi-annual event aimed at accelerating actions to promote and contribute to improving Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health indicators in the state.

READ ALSO:Food Security: 14,000 Smallholder Farmers To Benefit From N4bn Smart Agriculture Training In Bauchi

Represented by Dr. Sufiyan Jibrin, Director, Primary Healthcare, Bauchi, Mohammed explained that the services were primarily delivered to strengthen routine PHC services for pregnant women, mothers, and children aged 0-59 months.

He said during the campaign, children between the ages of 6-59 months would receive vitamin A supplements, deworming for children between 12-59 months, screening for acute malnutrition for 6-59 months, and appropriate referral when malnourished.

One of the women, Aisha Usman, appreciated UNICEF, Bauchi state government and other development partners for bringing the intervention to the women and children in the state.

Group known as Law Students of faculty of Law, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti have called for an investigation of the professorship title conferred on the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Edo State, Professor Roland Otaru (SAN).

In a petition signed by Comrade K. Akanbi, and addressed to the National Universities Commission (NUC), and Council of Legal Education, the group alleged that Otaru may have compromised the authorities of the school to get the title.

The petition dated December 7, 2025, and made available to newsmen in Benin on Monday, the students described the conferment as “a great academic fraud” and called for investigation.

The petition reads: “The said Otaru is a full time private legal practitioner in Ilorin Kwara State who got his PhD in law two years ago from one private University in Ogun State.

READ ALSO:Okpebholo Declares Edo Business-friendly

“He has neither taught nor examined postgraduate law students anywhere in Nigeria to qualify him for appointment as an Associate Professor of law (Reader), let alone Professor of law.

“It is for this reason that we ask that the circumstances surrounding the alleged conferment of the Professor of law status on Mr. Roland Otaru is investigated and the culprits are brought to book.”

They threatened a week-long protest by mid-January 2026 if the issue was not investigated.

“As law students, we have decided to speak up, because our lecturers who know the truth are afraid of shaking tables.”

READ ALSO:Edo Journalist Hospitalised After Being Attacked By Political Thug

However, a source in the Dean of Students office in the school said via telephone that they were not aware of the existence of such a group in the University.

Contacted, Otaru denied the allegation, saying it could be a deliberate attempt to smear his rising profile.

He insisted that he was duly appointed as a Professor by the Senate of the University.

“It is very funny. The Senate of the university conferred it on me, I have a letter to that effect and on that day, I was not the only one, we were about four, it was an approval from the Senate of the University and I delivered the lecture on that day, 9th of December 2024.

READ ALSO:Okpebholo Fires EDOGIS Managing Director

“I am a PhD holder. I have two Masters Degrees and I have up to five or six fellowships. I have been a SAN working for the past 20 years so what are they talking about?

“Maybe somebody there engineered it because of my rising profile.

“It is not a fake award, I don’t know what they want but there is no cause for alarm. I have the letter of the award.

“They were there that day, they were there when I delivered the lecture, it was an assemblage of all students in that faculty and I delivered the lecture there. There was no financial inducement, nothing like that, I think it was based on merit.”