The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has recognised Jigawa State for its exemplary leadership in tackling malnutrition and enhancing climate-resilient infrastructure in educational and healthcare facilities.
The commendation was made during the inauguration of the UK–Nigeria Climate Resilience Infrastructure for Basic Services (CRIBS) Programme in Chamo town, located within the Dutse Local Government Area of the state.
Ahead of the event, UNICEF Country Representative Wafa Saeed Abdellatef and FCDO Development Director Cynthia Rowe paid a courtesy visit to Governor Umar Namadi at the Government House, Dutse.
Rowe reaffirmed the UK’s long-standing partnership with the state, noting that Jigawa has been a key partner for over two decades.
“CRIBS provides a systematic approach to climate resilience, and we are keen to scale this across Jigawa and northern Nigeria,” she said.
UNICEF’s Abdellatef also described Jigawa as a model state in nutrition, sanitation, and climate resilience.
“This is the first state in Nigeria to achieve and sustain Open Defecation-Free status. We are here to hand over upgraded, climate-resilient schools and health facilities funded by the UK government,” she said.
She also highlighted the state’s Masaki initiative, which delivers preventive and treatment services for malnourished children under five, and its regular financial contributions to match climate resilience funds.
In his remarks, Governor Namadi emphasised the state’s vulnerability to climate shocks, especially flooding, which has caused widespread damage to infrastructure, livelihoods, and service delivery in education and health.
“Perennial floods have devastated Jigawa over the years, disrupting service delivery and undermining efforts to ensure children survive, grow, and learn,” he said.
He noted that Phase I of the CRIBS programme had renovated about 90 health and education facilities across three pilot local governments, including the remodelling of Chamo Primary School (established in 1960) and Chamo Primary Health Centre (established in 1965) to withstand climate-related impacts.
Namadi assured that his administration would expand the initiative in future phases.
“As a mark of our appreciation and in recognition of the long-term benefits, we will pursue a gradual scale-up of the CRIBS programme to cover more local governments and facilities,” he said.
The governor also expressed gratitude to FCDO and UNICEF, describing them as Jigawa’s most reliable development partners.
Details of the engagement were contained in a press statement by the Jigawa State Chief Press Secretary, Hamisu Gumel.