GUSAU, Nigeria — In a major policy shift aimed at combating surging child malnutrition and improving infant health index, the Zamfara State Government has approved a six-month paid maternity leave for female civil servants in the state.
The developmental breakthrough was announced on Thursday in Gusau, the state capital, by the Zamfara State Head of Service, Yakubu Haidara, during an official meeting with a delegation from the Civil Society–Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN).
According to Haidara, the policy extension from the previous three-month standard directly reflects Governor Dauda Lawal’s administrative blueprint to overhaul the state’s healthcare outcomes and eliminate infant malnutrition.
“I believe the governor’s approval is aimed at addressing malnutrition among children in the state,” Haidara stated.
The Head of Service further explained that the extended leave structure is designed to holistically support working mothers, safeguarding both mental and physical post-partum recovery.
“It provides essential time for physical recovery, prevents postpartum depression, facilitates exclusive breastfeeding and promotes vital emotional bonding,” Haidara added, emphasizing that the state government and civil society allies share an unyielding goal of protecting future generations.
The decision positions Zamfara among a progressive cluster of Nigerian states expanding maternal labor rights to align with global public health standards. For years, public health stakeholders in Northern Nigeria have raised alarms over high infant mortality rates tied to poor early-stage nutrition and inadequate nursing windows for working mothers.
In addition to the policy shift, Haidara recalled that Governor Lawal had previously demonstrated commitments to health funding by greenlighting ₦500 million in counterpart funding for nutrition initiatives last year. He expressed strong optimism that the administration would sustain or exceed this financial trajectory in the current fiscal year to ensure comprehensive execution.
Speaking earlier during the advocacy visit, the State Coordinator for CS-SUNN, Kabiru Jangeru, lauded the executive directive as a historic milestone for civil society advocacy in the region. Jangeru revealed that the achievement was the product of intense, structured advocacy led by CS-SUNN with critical institutional backing from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
According to Jangeru, the implementation of the six-month window directly mirrors statutory recommendations laid down by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, which identify exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life as an irreplaceable intervention against infant mortality.
Health stakeholders predict that while the policy will temporarily disrupt human resource allocations across ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), the long-term socio-economic dividends of a healthier workforce and reduced public pediatric healthcare burdens will vastly outweigh immediate labor shortages.
With the executive approval finalized, the office of the Head of Service is expected to issue an official implementation circular to all state MDAs to ensure immediate and unconditional compliance across Zamfara’s public service architecture.
