Champions for Change (C4C) is pleased to continue our 'Meet the Champions' Series. This blog series highlights the work of 24 Nigerian leaders currently participating as C4C Champions. C4C's Champions in Nigeria are working together to save the lives of mothers, children and young women through innovative advocacy and leadership development. Nigeria is Africa's largest economy, and yet tens of thousands of women and children die there each year due to lack of maternity care, preventable disease and poor health infrastructure, among other causes. This series brings a diversity of perspectives from around Nigeria to the table to discuss this critical moment in Nigeria's history and how Nigerians can work together to build a healthy future for all.
Aminu Magashi Garba, Board Member
The series concludes with an interactive discussion with Aminu Magashi Garba of Community Health and Research Initiative (CHR), a non-governmental organization that engages in research and advocacy for evidenced based policies and programs to improve maternal, newborn, and child morbidity and mortality rates in Nigeria.
C4C: What led to your involvement in RMNCH work, and what is the issue you are most passionate about in the field of RMNCH?
Aminu: I am a graduate of the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria in 2001 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). I was actively involved in student unionism and rose to become Vice President of Nigerian Medical Students Association (NIMSA). I went on to obtain a Master's Degree in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2007.
Having worked in hospitals as a young medical doctor, I had witnessed many women and children dying of preventable problems and complications because of inadequate facilities and lack of live saving drugs. It made me realise that the answer didn't lie in the four walls of hospitals but in sustained advocacy and engaging political leaders and policy makers to provide adequate funding and services. This has been my passion for my work of over 18 years.
I am interested in the areas of mobilization and effective use of financial resources and partnerships including working with the private sector for the post-2015 health agenda in Africa. I am currently leading sustained advocacy in Nigeria to improve immunisation finances and strengthen accountability and transparency. Also under the auspices of the Africa Health Budget Network I am working to support the Global Finance Facility (GFF) for RMNCAH to improve the participation of civil society organizations in oversight and advocacy.
C4C: Why did you opt to be part of the PHI/C4C program? What skills do you hope to acquire and what do you intend to do with these new knowledge and skills?
Aminu: The programme is planned to bring innovation in building the capacity of RMNCAH leaders in Nigeria via numerous leadership training. I have acquired more skills in advocacy, including budget advocacy, as well as enhancing my ability to network with media and strengthen the effectiveness of our organization.
C4C: What successes are you most proud of in your professional career?
Aminu: I coordinate the Africa Health Budget Network which is a regional network committed to the promotion of health budget transparency and accountability. I launched it during the 3rd WHO/PMNCH forum in Johannesburg in 2014. During the forum I also launched a scorecard on health budget transparency covering 26 African countries and called for greater transparency regarding the use of public funds. This was a high point of my professional career.
C4C: What is the most innovative aspect of the work of your organization?
Aminu: CHR has earned its niche over many years in strategically using scorecards to monitor performance of RMNCAH service delivery, and the use of such tools to influence change in the political environment for increased finances and commitment for RMNCAH.
C4C: Why is advocacy for RMNCAH important in Nigeria?
Aminu: Many state hospitals are facing a regular shortage of life-saving drugs for women and children to prevent bleeding during and after delivery and prevent infections, and many facilities lack the required human resources needed to provide RMNCAH services. These are some of the reasons why advocacy is important.
C4C: What is your vision for the future of Nigeria's Health System? What would be different if women newborns and children had adequate access to good quality health services and information?
Aminu: Proper implementation of National Health Act is key. For women, newborns and children to have adequate access to good quality health services and information, we need to ensure adequate allocation and disbursement of financial commitments at national and state level.
C4C: What is your favorite thing to do when you want to relax and have fun?
Aminu: I like to relax in my sitting room and enjoy local food with my wife and two children. Outside of my work, I also write a weekly health column in a Nigerian Newspaper, the 'Daily Trust,' that answers readers' questions on health as well as writes articles that engages policy makers, politicians, civil society and development partners with evidence and information aimed at catalysing positive actions in the health sector. It is the experience of this work that provided the impetus and stimulus to establish an online newspaper called Health Reporters, at www.healthreporters.info.
I am a Champion for Change because...I want to catalyse advocacy actions for effective use of financial resources in Nigeria to improve RMNCAH.
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We invite you to follow us on Twitter at @C4C_Champions and use the hashtag #MeetTheChampions to engage more closely with the blog series, the work of the 24 leaders whose work is being highlighted, and the larger conversation surrounding reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health in Nigeria.
Champions for Change saves the lives of women and children in Nigeria by empowering local leaders and organizations to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health through advocacy, education, storytelling and strategic partnerships. Champions for Change leverages a program model developed by its sister initiative, Let Girls Lead, which has contributed to improved health, education and livelihoods for more than 3 million girls globally since 2009.
Champions for Change and Let Girls Lead are initiatives of Rise Up, based at the Public Health Institute in Oakland, CA, a leader in global health and development for 50 years.
Follow Champions for Change on Twitter: www.twitter.com/championsforchange
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