Health
FG plans nutrition bill fast-track – Shettima
Stephen Angbulu
Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday said the Federal Government will accelerate work on a National Food and Nutrition Bill to protect nutrition financing and enforce accountability beyond the tenure of any administration.
Shettima said this at the Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, according to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha.
He revealed that the proposed law would strengthen the Federal Government’s Nutrition 774 Initiative and deepen a compact among federal, state and local governments to deliver a unified response to malnutrition, beginning at the community level.
“We are convinced that, with nutrition committees in 32 state houses of assembly, there is no better time for us to accelerate the development of a National Food and Nutrition Bill and the advancement of a federal, state and local compact to protect financing and enforce accountability beyond administrations,” he said.
Shettima disclosed that Nigeria’s $26m commitment to the Child Nutrition Fund attracted matching support, unlocking $52m.
He added that 21 states had contributed $6.3m since 2023 for supplies to prevent and treat malnutrition.
The proposed Presidential Nutrition Investment Fund would provide catalytic financing, while the Nutrition Financing Subcommittee was working to mobilise additional domestic resources, he argued.
“We can only claim that our budget fulfils its purpose when it nourishes a child,” he said, adding that the government was strengthening systems that link public expenditure to measurable nutrition outcomes through scorecards and stronger domestic financing.
The Vice President said Nigeria’s National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035 had set targets to cut the country’s stunting rate to 32 per cent by 2029, 28 per cent by 2032 and 25 per cent by 2035.
According to him, the urgency of the reforms was underscored by the fact that 40 per cent of Nigerian children under five were stunted, with undernutrition costing the economy an estimated $56bn annually.
“We act to protect learning. We act to preserve earnings. We act to project productivity,” he remarked.
Shettima noted that nutrition committees had also been set up in more than 450 local government areas, while the Federal Government was strengthening state councils and delivery capacity at all levels.
He said the Nutrition 774 Initiative provided a single framework bringing together all tiers of government, with governors and local government chairpersons expected to lead implementation in their areas.
“Each council, being the lowest tier of our system, is our unit of planning, financing and accountability.
“We are working with states on costed plans for priority councils, bringing health, agriculture, social protection, water, sanitation, hygiene and education to the same mother and child,” he said.
He added that the government was engaging food vendors, small and medium enterprises, manufacturers, financiers and regulators through its Private Sector Engagement Framework to improve the availability and affordability of nutritious food.
“It was also working with industry and regulators to strengthen compliance with fortification requirements for salt, flour, edible oil and sugar,” he explained.
Shettima said Nigeria and Ethiopia would work towards a joint statement defining continued cooperation on nutrition.
“Nigeria and Ethiopia owe Africa an example worthy of its children,” he announced.
Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Temesgen Tiruneh, who declared the forum open, said improving nutrition required sustained political leadership, financing and accountability at every level of government, backed by systems that track results.
“Over 100,000 children in Ethiopia have been protected from malnutrition through community mobilisation and improvements in the nutritional value of the food they eat,” he said.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, Dr Mekdes Daba, noted that the exchange focused on child malnutrition, with particular attention to the Seqota Declaration, Ethiopia’s national commitment to end child stunting by 2030.
Dabs said, “Stunting affects far more than a child’s physical growth. Poor nutrition can limit brain development, weaken school performance, reduce future earnings and slow national economic progress. Investing in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life is among the most important investments a country can make.”
Members of the Nigerian delegation, including governors and ministers who spoke at the forum, pledged greater investment in technology, financing, education and food systems to strengthen the nutrition value chain.
The delegation included the governors of Jigawa, Umar Namadi; Zamfara, Dauda Lawal; Osun, Ademola Adeleke; and Abia, Alex Otti.
Also present were the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate; the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev; and the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa.
Others were the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Zubaida Umar; the Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Muyi Aina; the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Uju Rochas-Anwukah; and the National President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Bello Lawal.
On the sidelines of the forum, Shettima and Tiruneh held a bilateral meeting to review relations and explore deeper cooperation in trade, investment, food security, aviation and security.
Tiruneh conveyed Ethiopia’s condolences to Nigeria over the recent Ondo air crash and said his country placed a high premium on its relations with Nigeria, as both were among Africa’s most populous countries.
He welcomed progress on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement signed by both countries, called for the convening of the Nigeria-Ethiopia Joint Commission, and commended growing private-sector cooperation, including the Dangote Group’s investment in Ethiopia.
Shettima reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to deeper ties and to the Joint Commission framework, saying both countries had a responsibility to use their populations, resources and strategic positions for Africa’s development.
He commended Ethiopia’s progress in agriculture and domestic value addition and stressed the need for stronger intra-African investment under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“With global growth increasingly shifting towards Africa and the continent blessed with a young population, Nigeria and Ethiopia must provide the leadership required to unlock Africa’s enormous potential,” he said, according to the statement.
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