Niger State Considers Two Week Paternity Leave For Male Workers

The Niger State Government is considering plans to approve a two-week paternity leave for male civil servants whose wives just gave birth.

Naija News understands that the government is also working on extending maternity leave for civil servants from three to six months.

The development was revealed by the Permanent Secretary Niger State Ministry of Health, Dr. Mohammed Gana, on Tuesday, during the flag-off of the World Bre*stfeeding Week in the state.

Gaba submitted that the review of the maternity leave had reached an advanced stage.

According to him, it was part of the state government’s policy to encourage women to bre*stfeed their children to curtail malnutrition and other childhood diseases.

He noted that “The evolving global workplace has seen a lot of women engaged in one form of employment to another. The engagement of women in a trade or employment is a positive development, but this is taking a toll on the quality of breastfeeding in terms of duration and frequency.

“Work or any form of employment should not separate the nursing mother from her baby. The state government is committed to providing the resources and championing the best practices for workplace-related bre*stfeeding support in all 25 local government areas, across different contract types and sectors, and promoting actions that can be taken to help ensure breastfeeding works for all women who work, wherever they work.

“The Government of Niger State is restructuring all workplaces, private and public, to enable nursing mothers to bre*stfeed and work.”