By Samuel Omotere
The Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq, has said the state currently has the lowest under-five mortality rate in Nigeria, citing findings from the 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the governor said the Federal Ministry of Health survey ranked Kwara as the best state in the country for a child to be born and raised.
“Last night, I received the newest Federal Ministry of Health’s survey which shows Kwara under our watch as the best state in which a child can be born and raised (NDHS, 2024),” he wrote.
AbdulRazaq added that the report showed the state recorded the lowest under-five mortality rate in the country.
“At 14/1000, the report shows that our state has the lowest under-5 mortality rate in Nigeria,” he stated.
The governor attributed the development to the state’s investment in primary healthcare but pledged to sustain efforts to improve the sector.
“While this report tells us that our investment in primary health care is a step in the right direction, I assure the people of our state that we will not become complacent. We will do more to make things a lot better,” he said.
He added that the state government was proud of the current ranking.
“We are indeed proud of the current standing of Kwara State under our watch,” he wrote.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported in 2025 that the Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency disclosed that child mortality indicators in the state were the lowest in the country.
Speaking in Ilorin during the First Quarterly Meeting of the Kwara State Task Force on Immunisation and Primary Health Care, the agency’s Executive Secretary, Nusirat Elelu, said the state’s performance was based on data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.
According to her, the state recorded two child deaths per 1,000 live births at the time, which was the lowest figure compared with other parts of the country.
Elelu attributed the improvement to expanded healthcare services and increased confidence in health facilities among residents.
She also noted that the state had improved access to skilled birth attendants across primary healthcare centres.
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