Free emergency care turns fear into joy for farming family in Gambaki village
By Dr. Nafisat Makinde
Azare, Bauchi State, September 24, 2025 — What began as a life-threatening pregnancy in a remote Bauchi community has turned into a national symbol of hope, as the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) confirmed the safe delivery of quadruplets at the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Azare.
The birth, described as the first of its kind under the Authority’s Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (CEmONC) programme, was announced in a press statement dated September 24, 2025. According to NHIA Director General, Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, the case of 35-year-old Hauwa Usman from Gambaki village shows how CEmONC “is a life-saving intervention for women in underserved areas, designed to prevent needless deaths and protect families from financial and social pain.”
Hospital officials said Hauwa, initially diagnosed with triplets and fetal malpresentation, underwent a caesarean section on September 18 and delivered two boys and two girls. “She was prepared for triplets, but intraoperatively she delivered quadruplets,” explained Dr. Achanpa Anemona Sunday, Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology. For Hauwa’s husband, Abubakar Adamu, a peasant farmer, the intervention not only saved his wife but also spared the family from crippling medical costs. “We are grateful for the survival of my wife and children,” he said, while appealing for public support to raise the quadruplets.
Since the introduction of CEmONC at the Azare teaching hospital, more than 422 women have benefitted from free emergency maternal care. The Chief Medical Director, Dr. Dauda A. Katagum, represented by the Head of Clinical Services, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Giade, praised NHIA for “an intervention that has saved many lives and brought succor to vulnerable families.”
Dr. Ohiri stressed that the initiative is part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative being led by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
The announcement was contained in an NHIA press statement dated September 24, 2025, in which Dr. Ohiri congratulated the family and reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to saving maternal and newborn lives across the country.
