FG Inaugurates “My Family Companion” For Family Health Awareness

The Minister of Youth Development, Mr Ayodele Olawande, has inaugurated “My Family Companion” to support Nigeria’s policy direction and global conversations on family wellbeing alongside a national reading relay initiative in Abuja.

Olawande, represented by Mr Essien Emmanuel, Director of Youth Health, Mental and Psychosocial Affairs in the ministry, said this on Wednesday during the inauguration of the National Reading Relay and its official registration portal.

He said the event was a landmark Guinness World Record attempt led by a young Nigerian, Dr Victor Otubo, in partnership with the ministry and the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria.

Olawande said that the initiative aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of 2026 as the Year of Families and Social Development, emphasising the family as the foundation of national stability and growth.

He said the reading relay supported Nigeria’s policy direction and global conversations on family wellbeing through storytelling, reading and youth participation to promote maternal and child health awareness.

According to him, the project targets the Guinness World Record for the “Most People in an Online Video Reading Relay,” aiming for 300 participants against the current record of 130.

He added that the initiative sought to empower 200 young Nigerians as record holders and ambassadors for maternal and child health advocacy across communities.

The minister said participants would include health professionals, students, educators, content creators and youth advocates aged 35 and below from Nigeria and the diaspora.

Otubo, the project initiator, said the book was a simplified, research-based resource designed to improve family health knowledge and reduce preventable maternal and child deaths.

He said the initiative was inspired by cases of preventable deaths and widespread misinformation about reproductive health, pregnancy and childbirth observed during medical training and community surveys.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Abiemwense Moru