Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that a unified approach is crucial to address malnutrition in Nigeria, since a collective effort will help ensure a healthier future for children in the country.
Shettima also expressed concern that malnutrition is depriving about 40 percent of Nigerian children under five years of their full physical and cognitive potential.
Speaking at the National Summit about Food Nutrition and Security in Abuja, Shettima emphasized the seriousness of the situation, highlighting the need for urgent action to address the problem.
According to Shettima, who was represented by Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, deputy director of the President's personnel (vice president's office), “malnutrition is depriving about 40% of Nigerian children under five years of their total physical and cognitive potential.”
The vice president announced that the federal government has launched the Nutrition 774 initiative, a base -centered program designed to address malnutrition in the most neglected communities in the country.
“The federal government has launched the Nutrition 774 initiative, a base -centered program aimed at addressing malnutrition in the most neglected communities in the country,” said Shettima.
The initiative underlines government commitment to improve nutrition and food security in Nigeria, particularly among vulnerable populations. The National Summit on Food Nutrition and Safety provided a platform for interested parties to discuss strategies and solutions to address the pressing problem of malnutrition in the country.
He said that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has repositioned nutrition as a central pillar of the Nigerian National Development Agenda.
By pointing out that the Nutrition 774 initiative has been approved by the National Nutrition Council, which presides, praised both the National Assembly and the State Assembly houses for establishing a national legislative network on nutrition and food security.
“The initiative is designed to have a direct impact on the most forgotten corners of our nation,” said Shettima, added that an urgent and coordinated action is needed to address Nigeria's alarming nutritional crisis.
He said: “We have witnessed the establishment of the National Legislative Network on Food Nutrition and Security and the replication of this Committee in the 36 state houses of the Assembly. This is, without a doubt, an unprecedented step in our legislative commitment. However, we must admit that the occasion that brings us here today is not a celebration.
“It is a reminder of the load we carry, a malnutrition crisis that continues to steal almost 40% of Nigerian children under five years of their physical and cognitive potential. It is a reminder of food insecurity is not only about hunger. It is also about whether our people can pay, access and accept food that meets their nutritional needs.
“This is the economy. This is education. It is the basic components of human capital that this nation needs so urgently.
“But in the face of this adversity, we have chosen not to regret, but to lead. Under the renewed hope agenda of his excellency, President Bola Tinubu, Nutrition you have repossed as a Central Pillar of Our National Development Strategy. At The Heart of This Strategy Lies The Nutrition 774 Initiative, Our Flagship Grassroots Framework Designed Not For Elegance On Paper, But for Impact in the Most Forgotten Corners of Our Nation.
“Nutrition 774 is a living strategy. One that drives political commitment, ensures sustainable financing, demands responsibility and galvanizes collaboration between federal, state and local governments. His genius lies in his simplicity of empowering each area of ​​the local government in this country to act based on their unique needs, their cultural dynamics and their economic resources.
“And to anchor it more, we have inaugurated the Strategic Board Nutrition 774, a high -level government agency responsible for supervising and directing the implementation of this initiative. It is a meeting of makers. It includes legislators, civil society actors and government technocrats.
“This is how we institutional responsibility. This is how we finish the rhetoric season and we mark the beginning of a results season. In this search, we are not alone.
“We thank the World Bank for the accelerated nutritional results in the Nigeria program, strengthening community -based nutritional systems in several states.
“We appreciate UNICEF and Médecins without Frontières for the community management of the CMAM program of acute malnutrition, reaching the most vulnerable with interventions that come out lives.
“We recognize the ICAM project by gain, which combines nutrition with intelligent climatic agriculture and the multiple micronutrient supplements program, MMS, by Nutrition International, which combines maternal anemia and the improvement of pregnancy results.
“To all our other development partners, civil society actors and allies of the private sector, we thank you. But allow me to say this clearly: the era of fragmented interventions has ended. We can no longer pay the parallel systems that dilute our collective force.
“It is time to align. Align with nutrition 774, align with the national strategy and align with the urgency of our national purpose. Nigeria needs a plan, a voice, a unified framework and responsibility. Anything except is a betrayal of the children who depend on us. For our distinguished legislators, this is their call to leadership.
“Budget allocations for nutrition must be consistent, adequate and safeguarded. Supervision functions must transcend audits. They must measure the impact. Policies should not die in the cameras.
“They must live in communities. And legislation must ensure that nutrition financing is not a matter of charity, but of justice. That this summit is not remembered for their assistance, but for their resolution.”
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