Partnership Manager of FP2030 Made Possible, Northwestern Central Africa, Margret Bolaji, has warned that Nigerian adolescents are at increasing risk of maternal deaths due to lack of access to family planning.
She said over 60 percent of Nigeria’s population is aged 10 to 24 and that poor access to information, health services, and weak political support were driving preventable deaths among young girls.
Bolaji, speaking during a briefing on the organisation’s community-led campaign, explained that the Made Possible campaign, supported by the Gates Foundation, is using media, fashion, sports, and arts to make conversations about family planning more normal.
She noted that family planning has “triple dividends”: it benefits today’s adolescents, tomorrow’s adults, and the next generation.
She urged the Nigerian government to allocate at least 1 percent of the health budget to family planning and ensure that funds reach communities.
Bolaji stressed that family planning is not just a health issue but also affects education, job opportunities, and social cohesion, warning that failure to equip adolescents with reproductive knowledge and services would be a missed opportunity for Nigeria’s demographic dividend.
