Kaduna Govt Mobilises 23 LG Chairmen’s Wives for Grassroots Nutrition Campaign

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Planning and Budget Commission has convened a stakeholders’ meeting on grassroots nutrition intervention, bringing together the governor’s wife, female commissioners, heads of agencies, wives of the 23 local government chairmen and development partners.

Welcoming participants, Mukthar Ahmed, Commissioner of the Kaduna State Planning and Budget Commission, said nutrition is fundamentally about the future of the state, as it influences survival, productivity and economic development. He commended Her Excellency for her leadership and personal commitment to the welfare of women and children.

He said the state government had strengthened nutrition interventions through policy, financing and collaboration, but stressed that success depends largely on the grassroots, where primary healthcare services are delivered and families make decisions about food.

Ahmed described the meeting as an opportunity to bring together two influential groups—women in strategic government positions and spouses of local government chairmen who are closely connected to communities—to promote exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding, maternal nutrition and the early identification of malnutrition across the 23 LGAs.

He disclosed that three spouses who had excelled in promoting nutrition at the grassroots would be recognised and rewarded by Her Excellency, as promised during their first engagement earlier in the year.

Also speaking, the Kaduna State Head of Service, Mrs Jummai Bako, said the repeated engagements demonstrated the importance the government attaches to nutrition, noting that mothers are often better positioned to identify when a child is not feeding properly.

She urged the wives of local government chairmen to involve the wives of councillors who live within the communities, stressing that the goal is to achieve zero malnutrition in Kaduna State.

The Chairman of the Kaduna State House of Assembly Committee on Food and Nutrition Security, Hon. Jessy David, said healthy mothers produce healthy children and assured participants that the Assembly would continue to enact legislation aimed at combating malnutrition while extending nutrition-related activities to the ward level.

The Commissioner for Youth Development, Gloria Ibrahim, said youth development could not be built on malnutrition. She commended Her Excellency for championing nutrition and described the wives of local government chairmen as mothers of their respective local governments and critical links to the grassroots.

The Chairman of the Kaduna State House of Assembly Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Shehu Yunusa, said his role was to ensure that nutrition budget lines were adequately provided for.

He noted that the government was determined to increase the allocation for nutrition in the 2027 budget, stressing that a healthy state is a wealthy state.

Presenting an overview of the nutrition situation, Ramatu Haruna, Director of Nutrition Services at the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, said Kaduna had the lowest stunting rate in the North-West, compared with Katsina at 54 per cent.

She attributed the progress to the release of N400 million in 2024 and N350 million in 2025 for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).

Haruna said 42,000 children had been treated with RUTF. According to her, 24,836 children were enrolled and 15,000 cured in the first quarter of 2026, while more than 17,400 were enrolled and 6,363 cured in the second quarter. She added that 8,655 cartons of RUTF were currently in stock.

She lamented the higher rate of malnutrition among girls, which she attributed to food-related bias favouring boys.

The Kaduna State Coordinator of the Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), Mrs Celestina Ayim, said Nigeria’s stunting rate stood at 40 per cent, with Rivers recording the lowest rate at 12 per cent and Katsina the highest at 65 per cent.

She said the national wasting rate stood at eight per cent, while Kaduna’s underweight rate of 24 per cent and wasting rate of 5.9 per cent were better than the national averages.

Ayim said resource mobilisation goes beyond money to include human resources, skills and partnerships.

She urged the 23 wives to become strong voices for nutrition, mobilise communities, connect local governments with philanthropists, amplify nutrition messages through local food demonstrations, and monitor commitments and the release of resources.

UNICEF Kaduna Field Office Nutrition Specialist, Chinwe Ezeife, said UNICEF, the Gates Foundation and CS-SUNN were pleased to partner with the Kaduna State Government.

She highlighted UNICEF’s slogan, “Nutrition for Every Child,” and reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to ensuring equitable access to nutrition services for women and children, particularly those in vulnerable communities.