Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has reaffirmed the Nigerian Government’s commitment to strengthening the Nutrition 774 (N774) Initiative following a three-day leadership exchange forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, focused on tackling malnutrition.
The forum brought together a high-powered Nigerian delegation, including state governors and federal officials, to examine how Ethiopia’s experience in multisectoral coordination, predictable financing and data-driven accountability could inform Nigeria’s efforts to improve nutrition outcomes at community and household levels.
Shettima, who led the delegation, said Nigeria would apply practical lessons from Ethiopia’s experience in tackling malnutrition, strengthening food systems and coordinating nutrition interventions across different levels of government.
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“The knowledge gained from the three-day Nutrition Forum would be adapted to Nigeria’s realities, particularly in strengthening collaboration among the federal government, states and local governments, in order to improve nutrition outcomes at the community and household levels,” the vice president said.
He highlighted Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen nutrition financing, accountability and implementation at the subnational level, stressing that improved nutrition was critical to human capital development, productivity and economic growth.
“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,” Shettima emphasised.
During the engagement, the delegation discussed broader development cooperation and Nigeria’s malnutrition crisis, while state governors shared their perspectives on how lessons from Ethiopia could shape implementation in their respective states.
Speaking on the outcomes, Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal said the exchange had reinforced his belief that Nigeria was moving in the right direction.
“We are encouraged that Nigeria’s N774 Initiative already embodies many of the principles we have seen here in Ethiopia. This leadership exchange has, however, provided an important practical lesson on how these principles can be further strengthened and translated into results,” Lawal stated.
He explained that insecurity had worsened the challenges facing Zamfara, making it more difficult for communities to benefit from the state’s agricultural resources.
“Zamfara State is a state that is facing too many challenges, especially insecurity. In the past, when you spoke about malnutrition, we don’t even have anything like that in the state because we produce enough to feed our people. However, because of those challenges now it becomes difficult. Now, should we be defined by the insecurity? The answer is no. What else can we do? And it is important that we are here in this kind of gathering to understand where people that face similar challenge, what have they done to come out of it?” the governor asked.
Other Nigerian governors at the forum also pledged to support the N774 Initiative by deepening collaboration at the grassroots as the country seeks to translate its nutrition policies into measurable improvements in communities and households.
Abia State Governor Alex Otti commended the engagement, saying it had encouraged principled decision-making and would inform the expansion of the N774 Initiative across his state.
He said the initiative would be implemented across Abia’s 17 local government areas, 184 wards and communities to reach vulnerable populations.
“It’s also closely connected to poverty. While we are at the upper level dealing with fundamentals in the economy that will move people out of poverty, reduce unemployment, increase the GDP of the state, 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,” Otti explained.
Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi also pledged to adapt lessons from Ethiopia to strengthen nutrition interventions in his state.
“With our 774 Initiative, we will be able to ensure that we improve the nutritional status of our children. Now, for instance, we in Jigawa State, we already have our homegrown initiatives. The Masaka initiative, which is making a very good impact for us. In addition to the Masaka initiative, we also have a ‘Tom Brown’ initiative, where we also trained about 600 women, and we have given them all the material that is needed to produce nutritional food that will be used by our children,” Namadi disclosed.
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke said his administration already had a nutrition agenda focused particularly on children and pregnant women, adding that the exchange would help the state strengthen its existing efforts.
“Already, Osun State, we already have an agenda on nutrition, especially for the young ones and pregnant women. Very, very important. And we have some sources, but we can improve on them. So that is why I’m here, I’m here to exchange notes from our counterparts in Ethiopia. So I think we’ve started very well, and already between Nigeria and Ethiopia, we’re already keying into it,” Adeleke said.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, announced that federal authorities would immediately collaborate with at least two of the states with the highest malnutrition burdens to begin local implementation of the initiative, noting that nutrition was also a health issue.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, Dr Mekdes Daba, said Nigeria’s decision to target all 774 local government areas demonstrated a strong commitment by the country’s leadership to addressing malnutrition on a national scale.
At the end of the three-day engagement, Nigeria and Ethiopia reaffirmed their commitment to sustained cooperation and knowledge exchange on nutrition and development.
The Nigerian delegation comprised state governors and their commissioners, alongside representatives of federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). They included the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, the Minister of State for Education, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), accompanied by their directors.
Representatives of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), representing the country’s 774 local government areas, also participated, alongside the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and his team.
Big Win Philanthropy partnered with the Nigerian Government on the leadership exchange.
