From Bashir Rabe Mani, Sokoto
The Sokoto State Government has pledged to release N500 million as counterpart funding for the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) and implement six months of paid maternity leave for civil servants as part of efforts to tackle malnutrition in the state.
The Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Bashir Achida, disclosed this on Thursday during a breakfast meeting with key stakeholders and political office holders on nutrition in Sokoto.
Achida, who was represented by the Director of Economic Planning, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi, said the government remained committed to strengthening nutrition interventions and finding sustainable solutions to malnutrition.
“This meeting is aimed at strengthening nutrition at the state level and, by extension, providing a lasting solution to malnutrition across our communities,” he said.
The commissioner noted that although recent reports indicated improvements in some malnutrition indices, more work was required to address the challenge.
“Food security and malnutrition remain major concerns to the state. That is why the government and its partners are doing their best to provide solutions,” Achida said.
He also commended development partners, including the Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) and UNICEF, for supporting the state through training, logistics and other nutrition interventions.
Speaking at the meeting, CS-SUNN Team Lead for Partnership and Collaboration, Alhaji Shuaibu Musa Kafin-Gana, said Sokoto had recorded significant progress in reducing child stunting.
Citing data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), Kafin-Gana said 54.8 per cent of children under five in Sokoto were stunted. He said the figure dropped to 42.8 per cent in the 2023–2024 survey.
“Look at the reduction in just five years. This is highly commendable,” he said.
Kafin-Gana, however, expressed concern over other health and nutrition indicators, saying only 10 per cent of women of childbearing age in the state deliver in hospitals or clinics.
He added that 55 per cent of women and 60 per cent of children under five were anaemic, underscoring the need for sustained nutrition and maternal health interventions.
According to him, Sokoto State last released funds to UNICEF under the Child Nutrition Fund in 2024, when it provided N100 million.
He said Gov. Ahmed Aliyu had subsequently pledged N500 million as a matching grant, but the funds had yet to be released.
Kafin-Gana said stakeholders were assured during recent advocacy engagements that the delay was not due to negligence, adding that the government had promised to release the N500 million before the end of the year.
He explained that UNICEF would match the state’s N500 million contribution, bringing the total intervention fund to N1 billion for the procurement of nutrition commodities, including multiple micronutrient supplements for pregnant women and children.
Kafin-Gana also called for greater accountability in the distribution of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and other nutrition commodities.
He urged civil society organisations and the media to monitor distribution and expose any diversion or misuse of supplies.
“We are all stakeholders. If accountability suffers, the government will not be encouraged to release funds to partners. A single media report can help the state by exposing any misuse,” he said.
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