What do you believe is the single most important factor driving up the cost of living in Nigeria?

Grace Joseph’s labour pains began at 9 a.m. on a quiet morning in the Tan-Jol area of Plateau State earlier this year. With each passing hour, the discomfort grew more intense.

However, while enduring the pain, what was more prominent in her mind was the uncertainty of where she would deliver her child. In Tan-Jol, a village in Riyom Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State, there is no health facility or midwife.

By midday, her husband had left in search of a neighbour who had a car — their only hope of reaching the nearest clinic in Vwak-Jol, a 10-kilometre journey over rough, unpaved roads.

“He (the neighbour) drove us to the clinic in Vwak but they said they couldn’t handle it,” she narrated.

The clinic, a repurposed church, lacked the necessary equipment for complicated deliveries. The staff suggested they head for Vom Christian Hospital, a bigger facility another 30 kilometres away in nearby Jos South LGA.

• Read More