Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed that his administration paid pregnant women N10,000 each for attending antenatal care as part of efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality in the state.

Amaechi made the disclosure on Tuesday at the Her Health, Her Power Conference Africa 2026 in Abuja, where he spoke on the importance of improving women’s health and linking healthcare interventions with economic empowerment.

The former governor said Rivers State was previously rated among the states with the highest maternal and child mortality rates, prompting his administration to establish healthcare centres across communities and strengthen access to maternal healthcare.

According to him, medical centres were established in villages, while doctors and nurses were employed to provide services to pregnant women and other residents.

He said the N10,000 incentive was introduced to encourage pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics regularly.

“Each village has a medical centre. We employed two doctors and nurses while we paid N10,000 per woman that went for antenatal,” Amaechi said.

He explained that the financial incentive attracted more pregnant women to the health centres, even though some initially attended primarily because of the payment.

“Our health centres were full every Friday because they were sure of going home with N10,000,” he said.

Amaechi noted that while some women were motivated by the financial incentive rather than healthcare itself, the policy ultimately encouraged them to access antenatal services and provided an opportunity for health workers to monitor their pregnancies.

“They are not coming there for their health but for the money, and that N10,000 is economy,” he said.

The former governor argued that women’s health could not be separated from economic conditions, noting that many women, particularly in rural communities, depend on agriculture and other informal activities for their livelihoods.

“On the issue of health, you certainly cannot make the female look healthier and stronger if the economy is bad,” he said.

Amaechi noted that women constitute a significant part of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce and urged policymakers to pay greater attention to their economic wellbeing alongside healthcare.

“In a global economy like that of Nigeria, 40 percent of women are farmers, so we need to do more as politicians to see that women live healthier,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of educating women, arguing that improved access to education would strengthen their capacity to take up leadership roles and contribute more effectively to society.

“No matter how much grammar we speak in our different states as governors, we need to do more for our women. Another thing we need to do is to make sure that they get educated; they make better leaders when they are educated,” he said.

Amaechi said the Rivers experience demonstrated the potential impact of combining healthcare access with economic incentives, particularly in communities where poverty may prevent women from seeking regular medical attention.

He called for greater investment in women’s health and economic empowerment, stressing that improving maternal healthcare should remain a priority for governments at all levels.