The chairman of the House committee on nutrition, Jigawa House of Assembly, Mas’ud Naruwa, has announced a landmark commitment to dedicate at least one per cent of the state’s annual budget to nutrition from 2026.
Mr Naruwa said this while speaking to journalists on Thursday in Kaduna at the second day of a high-level stakeholders meeting aimed at enhancing inter-sectoral collaboration in addressing malnutrition.
The event was organised by the Jigawa government with support from UNICEF.
He said that at a UNICEF seminar in Lagos, the assembly’s members pledged to work toward allocating one per cent of the state budget to nutrition.
“Today, Jigawa is on the verge of achieving that target, with N4.7 billion already spread across various ministries and agencies for nutrition in 2025.
“By 2026, we are determined to make the one per cent a standing allocation,” he said.
Mr Naruwa stated,” If the move is achieved, it would be a game-changer in the fight against malnutrition, therefore leas to agenda setting for several other states in the country.”
He described the commitment as a promise to the next generation, emphasising that nutrition is not just a health issue, but an economic driver.
“Healthy children grow into productive citizens who can drive our state forward.
“That is why each member of the House of Assembly had already contributed N10million to support nutrition in their constituencies, totalling N300 million in 2025, which is only the beginning, by the grace of God,” he said.
The chairman of the state’s chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Sibu Abdullahi, stressed that local governments were ready to complement state-level actions through community-driven programmes.
“Some of our leaders today may not have received proper nutrition in their childhood, and we see the effects in performance.
“We cannot afford to repeat this mistake. That is why we are investing in our children now,” he said.
Mr Abdullahi praised Gov. Umar Namadi for placing health as the state’s second priority and pushing nutrition to the forefront.
“Initially, each local government contributed N250,000 monthly to support the Masaki programme, a nutrition intervention programme that currently engages about 600 women across the 27 local government areas of the state.
“Today, that contribution has doubled to N500,000 monthly, all going directly into nutrition. From 2026 onward, every local government will dedicate 1 per cent of its budget to nutrition.
“This is a revolution that will reach every ward, every family, and every child in Jigawa State,” Mr Abdullahi said.
Earlier, the nutrition manager for UNICEF at the Kano Field Office, Karanveer Singh, warned of the urgent need for collective action, given the alarming rates of child malnutrition in Northern Nigeria.
“A high number of children in Jigawa, Katsina, and Kano are chronically malnourished, and stunting is not just about a child’s height; it also stunts brain development.
“It creates a stunted body and a stunted mind, and this condition is irreversible,” he said.
Mr Singh restated the economic cost of ignoring malnutrition, saying, “every stunted child is a lost opportunity for the state and for the nation.
“The reverse is also true: every child we nourish properly is an investment in Nigeria’s growth.
*That is why prevention, particularly in the earliest years of life, is so critical. UNICEF is proud to stand with Jigawa in this bold step.”
(NAN)
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