Malnutrition: Adamawa Govt Releases N300m Matching Grant

By; TINA PHINEAS, Yola

In its efforts to tackle malnutrition in the state, the Adamawa State Government has released N300million as a matching grant for the Child Nutrition Fund.

Speaking at the inauguration of the State Council on Nutrition under the Nutrition 774 Initiative, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri said his administration has increased budgetary allocations to nutrition in the last six years

According to him, malnutrition is a silent calamity that impairs growth, learning and cognitive ability.

Fintiri, who was represented by the deputy governor, Professor Kaletapha Farauta, lamented malnutrition as a barrier to education and productivity in the state.

“It threatens our human capital and undermining development,” he stated.

Farauta reaffirmed government commitments to providing succour to the poor and vulnerable people on an innovative platform in the state.

She charged local government council chairmen as to replicate the success of the initiative in their various LGAs.

Earlier, Uju Vanstasia, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, said malnutrition is Nigeria’s quietest, but deadliest emergency and kills more dreams than conflict ever could.

“Today, one in every three Nigerian children under five is stunted. Nearly half of all child deaths in our nation are linked to malnutrition.

“This, Your Excellency, is not just a health issue. It is a national emergency hiding in plain sight.

“It knows no religion, no ethnicity, and no boundary. It is the language of inequality and poverty — and we must respond with urgency, strategy, and unity,” she stated.

Vanstasia, who doubles as Focal Person on Nutrition in the Office of the Vice President, urged governments to invest in addressing malnutrition.

“For every $1 invested in nutrition, we gain $23 in economic returns. That is almost four times what we gain from infrastructure investment,” she stated