UNICEF urges Nigeria to adopt policies supporting exclusive breastfeeding

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called on Nigerian governments, employers and communities to introduce family‑friendly workplace measures that enable mothers to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months. UNICEF’s Kano field office chief, Shafeeq Ur‑Rehman, urged the 22 states that lack six‑month paid maternity leave – including Kano, Jigawa and Katsina – to adopt paid leave, flexible hours, dedicated lactation spaces and safe milk‑storage facilities. He noted that only 14 Nigerian states currently provide six months of paid leave and that low rates of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding persist.

In parallel, UNICEF enlisted commercial bus drivers in Enugu as “moving ambassadors” for its 2026 World Breastfeeding Week campaign. Drivers from the National Union of Road Transport Workers were given ambassador status and asked to display breastfeeding advocacy messages on their vehicles, reminding passengers that breastfeeding is the best nutrition for infants. UNICEF officials stressed that supporting breastfeeding is a shared responsibility of families, employers, health workers and policymakers.