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Kaduna govt pledges budget releases, cash backing to fight malnutrition

By: Peoples Daily

Date:

From:Femi Oyelola in Kaduna

The Kaduna State Government has pledged commitment to increasing budget releases and utilization for nutrition programming to also work to extend paid maternity leave from three to six months and to formulate a legal framework for its implementation.

Senior government officials made the commitments when the National Secretariat of the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) led advocacy visited different Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) from Monday, 17th to Wednesday, 19th of 2025.

The advocacy visits, which also had the State Nutrition Committee members and the media, were supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

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CS-SUNN is implementing the UNICEF partnership project known as “Increased Investment in Nutrition to Scale Up Quality Nutrition Services in 19 States.

Responding to the demands made by the team, Kaduna State Commissioner for Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), Mukhtar Ahmed, pledged that the state will make nutrition budget release a priority because of the importance it attached to saving the lives of babies and their mothers.

He said the state governor has the political will to drive the required change in the health and other sectors.

According to him, the Kaduna State government has not reneged in its commitment to health and education in the last 10 years, which clearly shows that the political will is there and that the MDAs will do their part to ensure the funds are made available for implementation.

READ MORE  Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos has directed the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) to conduct an enumeration of religious centres across the state. Mr. Ambode gave the directive while inaugurating 798 members of the NIREC appointed for the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas in Lagos. He was represented by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, AbdulHakeem Abdul-Lateef, at the inauguration. “One of the core functions you are going to discharge is the collation of religious institutions at the local government level,” he said. “You must ensure that you compile a list of all churches, all mosques, all faith-based organisations and forward same to the Ministry of Home Affairs. “I must also urge you to work closely with the local government chairman and all other officials at the local government level. “You are working directly with NIREC at the state level. “Always make sure that you relate any matter that is beyond your capacity to the state NIREC and through the state NIREC, it will get to my office as the governor of Lagos State. “Your meetings will hold quarterly and I urge you to have extra-ordinary meetings in cases of emergencies. “I urge you to cooperate with the local government officials and do your best to promote peace and orderliness at the local government level.’’ Speaking earlier, the Co-Chairman (Muslim) of the state NIREC, Tajudeen Yusuf, said the inauguration of the council at the local government level was a proactive step taken by the government. He said that this would ensure continued peaceful co-existence among all people of diverse religious and ethnic groups in the state. “Today, we are inaugurating the members of NIREC at grassroots and it is a proactive step on the part of our governor to ensure that the monumental development that Lagos State is witnessing today is not taken for granted. “Muslims and Christians are in a better position to ensure that we continue to have peace and inter-religious dialogue as well as peaceful co-existence in Lagos State. “We are, by this inauguration, taking inter-religious dialogue to the grassroots so that when crises arise, they are quickly nipped in the bud,’’ Mr. Yusuf said. Also speaking, the co-chairman (Christian) of the state NIREC, Israel Akinadewo, remarked that religious leaders must continue to educate their followers, especially the vulnerable ones at the grassroots. The State Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami, commended Mr. Ambode for running a community-based government of inclusion by bringing governance down to the grassroots. Mr. Folami said that by taking the NIREC activities to the grassroots, it would be easier for government to nip any crisis in the bud. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 14 persons, comprising seven Muslims and seven Christians each, were appointed into the NIREC in the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in the state.(NAN)

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