By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Men have been warned to stop sucking or dragging the breast milk of their wives with their babies.
Imam Bashir Tahir, the Assistant Secretary-General, Muslim Council of Nigeria in Adamawa State, gave the warning while speaking at a two-day Media Dialogue that held over the week in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Themed: “Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All”, the event, which was organised by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office (BFO) drew participants and media practitioners from Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau and Taraba States.
Addressing the participants, the Muslim Cleric, who represented the Chairman of the Council at the Media Dialogue, emphasized that God specially created breast milk strictly for the growth and development of babies; and wondered why men now compete with their babies over their mothers’ breast milk, after having taken their own share of the milk from their mothers when they were babies.
“I have never heard such a thing that a father is struggling with his baby for breast milk,” he said.
Continuing, he cautioned that any father who drags breast milk with a baby is depriving the child of its benefits.
“As a father, you should be just to your child because if you are unjust as a father you are only sowing a seed of discomfort and disrespect in your family.
“How do you expect to have respect in the house where the father deprives a small child of his rights given by God?
“This message should be preached as part of sensitisation for me.
“There are 1,026 mosques in Adamawa State, and if as a Council, we have an important message such as the importance of exclusive breastfeeding to convey to the Imams, we send such a message to the secretaries who will disseminate it to the Imams.
“The Imams will now convey the message to the people at the respective mosques in the state,” he stated.
The cleric, who advocated the exclusive breastfeeding, also pledged the commitment of the Council to support UNICEF’s campaign on that, saying that it is good and very beneficial.
“When you suck the breast milk of your wife, she automatically ceases to be your wife and becomes your mother because breast milk was ordained for the mother to feed her baby, not adult,” he cautioned, further warning husbands sucking their nursing wives’ breasts milk to desist from it in order not to incur the wrath of God upon their family.
Echoing a similar view, the District Head of Nyibargo in Adamawa Emirate, Alhaji Abubakar Jika, harped on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.
His words: “I recommend exclusive breastfeeding to my subjects because you cannot give what you don’t have. I got inspired by my medical friend doctor as far back as when I had my first child.
“Thereafter I encouraged my wife to engage in exclusive breastfeeding and I have seen the immense benefits in the lives of my children.
“From traditional point of view, none of us knew much about the benefits of breastfeeding. None of us in the society back then would say that his mother practiced exclusive breastfeeding.
“There was even a time when female children were not allowed to go to school but things are gradually changing, so also exclusive breastfeeding.
“When it first came most people in our society said no to it saying that they don’t want their children to die. Now, considering the advantages of exclusive breast feeding, many people are now embracing it.
“So apart from the nutritional benefits for the child and mother, exclusive breastfeeding has huge economic benefits. The family will not spend money to meet other family needs during the period of breastfeeding.”
Earlier speaking, Philomena Irene, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, said the theme of the event underscores the organisation’s commitment to ensuring that every mother in the UNICEF BFO States has access to the support she needs, regardless of her circumstances.
She further urged journalists to be agents of change in correcting myths and misconceptions surrounding exclusive breastfeeding for the benefits of newborn babies for the first 1,000 days of their lives.
She also expressed concern that the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) on breastfeeding was poor in the DFO states, emphasizing the need for improvements, as the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding on a child cannot be overemphasized.
