- A high-powered Nigerian delegation, including governors and federal ministers, spent three days in Addis Ababa for a nutrition leadership exchange
- Vice President Shettima says lessons from Ethiopia will be adapted to strengthen Nigeria's Nutrition 774 Initiative at community level
- State governors from Zamfara, Abia, Jigawa and Osun have each made specific pledges tied to the outcomes of the Addis Ababa forum
Abuja, FCT - Nigeria's Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has returned from a three-day nutrition forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with concrete plans to sharpen the country's Nutrition 774 (N774) Initiative, citing Ethiopia's track record in multisectoral coordination, predictable financing and data-driven accountability as models worth replicating.
The Ethiopia-Nigeria Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum brought together an extensive Nigerian delegation that included state governors and their commissioners, as well as federal ministers spanning health, budget, education, water resources and agriculture. Representatives of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) also attended. Big Win Philanthropy partnered with the Federal Government on the exchange.
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Shettima said the forum's value would ultimately be judged by results on the ground.
"The real measure of the exchange would be how effectively the lessons are translated into improved outcomes for Nigerian families, particularly women and children, through stronger implementation of N774 across the country," he said, adding that the federal government would focus on deepening collaboration across the three tiers of government.
N774 nutrition drive: Governors speak
Governors who attended were direct about the stakes in their respective states. Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal acknowledged that conflict had upended a state that once produced enough food to sustain its population.
"Should we be defined by the insecurity? The answer is no," he said, framing the forum as an opportunity to learn from nations that had navigated similar pressures.
Abia Governor Alex Otti said the initiative would be extended to all 17 local governments, 184 wards and every community in the state, linking nutrition to the broader fight against poverty. "There are those people who may not be able to react to the fundamentals of the economy, and those are the people we are targeting," he said.
Jigawa Governor Umar Namadi pointed to existing homegrown programmes, including the Masaka initiative and a "Tom Brown" scheme through which roughly 600 women have been trained and equipped to produce nutritious food for children, as a foundation on which Ethiopia's lessons would be built.
Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke said his state already maintained a nutrition agenda for young children and pregnant women and was present specifically to refine it.
"I think we've started very well, and already between Nigeria and Ethiopia, we're already keying into it," he said.
N774 nutrition drive: Health minister speaks
On the federal side, Health and Social Welfare Minister Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate announced that authorities would immediately partner with at least two of the country's highest-burden states to begin localised execution of the nutrition programme.
Ethiopia's Health Minister, Dr Mekdes Daba, praised Nigeria's decision to target all 774 local government areas, describing it as a demonstration of serious macro-level political commitment.
Nigeria's Health Fund Management: CODE Presents Findings
In another report, Connected Development (CODE), on Thursday, July 9, presented the results of an independent probe into how Nigeria's Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) is managed, focusing specifically on the fund's epidemic preparedness component and raising concerns about delayed disbursements, poor financial transparency and weak accountability structures.
The findings were presented at a national convening in Abuja, where officials from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), members of the legislature, development partners and civil society groups reviewed the evidence and issued formal responses.
Source: Legit.ng