Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, received an award as the first National Nutrition Vanguard of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, NSN.
The award was presented to Prof. Osinbajo by the President of the NSN, Prof. Wasiu Afolabi, at a ceremony in the Vice President’s Conference Room of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The NSN gave the award to the vice president in recognition of the role he has played in advancing the course of the nutrition and food system space in Nigeria since he assumed office.
Receiving the award, Prof. Osinbajo said that the Nigerian government, from the time he assumed office as vice president, decided that it would need to do a lot of work in the area of nutrition.
“I think that one of the major issues for us was the consideration that the most important task of government is the security and welfare of citizens, security, of course in terms of physical security, but perhaps more in terms of livelihood.
“What’s the point in providing any physical security to somebody who dies of hunger? We should dedicate time and attention to food security and of course nutrition.”
Vice President Osinbajo called for synergy between the work on human capital development, which is done through the National Economic Council, and work on the area of nutrition through the Nutrition Council of Nigeria.
“We think that it is important that we maintain that synergy because it speaks to our responsibility to our country and duty to the people.
“In doing so, the president appointed a Special adviser on Nutrition in the person of Mrs. Bimbo Adasanmi, who perhaps is the first of her kind in the history of this country. I think it does emphasise how important the issue of nutrition is to us as a government.”
Prof. Osinbajo commended the NSN for the work it has done as a society since it was founded in 1963, saying it has been in the vanguard and remained faithful in the work on nutrition.
“If we did not have the NSN, we would not be able to make the advancement that we made and the achievements that we made.
“It is your advocacy over the years that has led to the point where the government could not ignore the nutrition space at all. We could not ignore it mainly because of the work you have done through the years.”
Speaking on the award presented to him, Vice President said he considered it a great honour to receive the award, but pointed out that “it was not expected because a lot of what I might have achieved is in the course of doing the work for which one was elected.”
A member of the Board of Trustees of the Society, Prof. Abubakar Hafiz, who was in the delegation that presented the award, said that the NSN recognised the achievements the society has recorded since it started working with the vice president.
Among the achievements that Prof. Hafiz highlighted were the inauguration of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria as the highest decision-making body in the country; approval of the monthly sectoral plan of action for food and nutrition in Nigeria; high-level support for the Nigerian food system dialogue; and approval of budget line for nutrition, the first of its kind in Nigeria.
The President of the Society, Prof. Afolabi, who led the delegation, listed the activities of the Society since it was founded, which included capacity building, awareness creation through media and communication, research as well as monitoring, and evaluation.
Dominica Nwabufo
