25 Niger State Council Chairmen Commit to Implementation of UNICEF-Assisted Child Nutrition Programme.
The commitment was contained in a communique adopted at the end of a two-day capacity-building retreat on Sustainable Nutrition Financing held in Abuja.
The retreat was organised by the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) in partnership with the Niger State Government under Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago.
It was aimed at building sustained political commitment, enhancing institutional capacity and establishing predictable financing mechanisms at local government level to combat maternal and child malnutrition.
Participants noted that N500 million is already available in the state nutrition account, but stressed that budgetary allocation alone is insufficient. Continuous advocacy is needed to ensure funds are fully released and effectively utilised. They also noted that malnutrition often competes with other pressing priorities, including security, and that chairmen must provide deliberate political leadership, championing nutrition as a core economic and development strategy. The retreat further observed that LGAs currently run nutrition activities on ad hoc basis due to absence of dedicated budget lines, and that complex nutrition data must be translated into accessible evidence for political leaders, alongside community sensitization on local nutritious foods like Tom Brown.
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