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*We can now move the needle, says Osinbajo
*VP inaugurates International Donor’s Forum ahead of 2023 Population Census
Efforts by the Federal Government to tackle malnutrition and its attendant challenges are beginning to take shape, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, just as nutrition specific budget estimates are likely to be included in the 2023 Appropriation Bill.
Prof. Osinbajo was speaking Thursday at a virtual meeting of the National Council on Nutrition.
According to the Vice President “we are at a point where we can move the needle especially with the creation of nutrition departments in line ministries and ensuring that we get nutrition on the budget line and it is actually done properly.”
The Council with the approval of the President has now ensured that nutrition departments now exist in several Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Humanitarian Affairs, Women Affairs, Information and Culture, Industry, Trade and Investment, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), among others.
During the meeting, presentations by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and Nigerian Governors Forum were made on the implementation of the National Multi-Sectoral Plan of Action on Nutrition particularly on the funding of nutrition activities in the country.
“We intend to follow up on all of these especially in the coming days, working with the relevant Ministers and the Governors Forum. And an important point that was made in the presentation earlier was that we need to do a chart of account. It is really important,” the VP said.
The meeting chaired by the Vice President had in attendance, Minister of Science and Technology, Sen. Adeleke Mamora; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq; the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs Olusola Idowu; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mr Aliyu Ahmed, and the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, among others.
Council members at the meeting included His Royal Highness and Board of Trustees Chairman, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and also CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Ms Zouera Youssoufou; representatives of civil society and development partners, among others.
In another development, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the inauguration of a donor’s forum ahead of the 2023 Population Census restated the Federal Government’s commitment to investing in the development of the country’s human capital across different sectors, including health, education and nutrition, despite the growing population.
The Vice President whose remarks were delivered at the event by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, said “as a government, our most important objectives, both nationally and regionally, must be on the improvement of the quality of life, living standards and livelihoods of our people. In other words, we are committed to the happiness, security and general welfare of our populations.”
Underscoring the political will demonstrated by the Buhari Administration towards the country’s development and welfare of its people, Prof. Osinbajo noted that President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated personal commitment in several ways, “including the fact that we are holding the census in the very year that we are going to have an election, considering the huge budgetary implications of that.”
