The Adamawa Government has released N300 million as a matching grant for the Child Nutrition Fund to tackle malnutrition across the state.
Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri disclosed this on Monday during the inauguration of the State Council on Nutrition under the Nutrition 774 Initiative.
Fintiri, who was represented by his Deputy, Prof. Kaletapwa Farauta, said the administration had steadily increased budgetary allocations to nutrition in the last six years.
He lamented that malnutrition remains a major barrier to education and productivity among children in the state.
“Malnutrition is a silent calamity that impairs growth, learning and cognitive ability,” he said.
“It threatens our human capital and undermines development.”
Farauta reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting poor and vulnerable citizens through innovative platforms that promote nutrition and well-being.
She urged local government chairmen to act as focal persons for the initiative and replicate its success at the grassroots level.
Also speaking, Ms. Uju Vanstasia, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health and Focal Person on Nutrition at the Office of the Vice President, described malnutrition as Nigeria’s quietest but deadliest emergency.
“One in every three Nigerian children under five is stunted. Nearly half of all child deaths in our nation are linked to malnutrition,” she said.
“This is not just a health issue. It is a national emergency hiding in plain sight. It knows no religion, ethnicity or boundary. It is the language of inequality and poverty — and we must respond with urgency, strategy and unity.”
Vanstasia called for increased investment in nutrition, noting its far-reaching economic impact.
“For every $1 invested in nutrition, we gain $23 in economic returns. That is almost four times what we gain from infrastructure investment,” she added.
The Nutrition 774 Initiative aims to strengthen community-level responses to malnutrition by engaging all 774 local government areas in the country.
