Governors Commit To Declare Nutrition Emergency, Establish Intervention Fund In Nigeria

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Governors of Nigeria’s 36 states have committed to declaring a nutrition emergency and establishing a National Nutrition Intervention Fund to accelerate the implementation of the Nutrition 774 Initiative across the country.

The commitments were announced by Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, on Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while presenting the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Addis Ababa Commitment on Nutrition at the Nigeria Country Session.

According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, the announcement followed a three-day Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange, during which the Nigerian delegation, led by Vice President Kashim Shettima, studied Ethiopia’s experience in tackling malnutrition, particularly through its Seqota Declaration.

The session, themed “From Lessons to Commitment: Accelerating Implementation of the Nutrition 774 Initiative,” also featured commitments by the governors to strengthen domestic funding, improve grassroots accountability and adopt a unified framework for nutrition planning and budgeting.

Speaking on behalf of the NGF, Lawal said the exchange underscored the importance of sustained political leadership, effective coordination across sectors, predictable funding and the use of data to guide decisions and measure progress.

He noted that Nigeria’s Nutrition 774 Initiative already incorporated several principles demonstrated by Ethiopia, adding that the exchange had provided practical lessons for improving implementation and achieving measurable results.

According to him, the lessons included coordinated planning and budgeting, stronger intersectoral collaboration, bottom-up planning, predictable financing and the use of performance scorecards to monitor progress.

The governors also identified matching funding arrangements between the Federal Government and state governments as a mechanism for aligning priorities, encouraging investment and strengthening accountability for nutrition outcomes.

Lawal recalled that the three tiers of government signed the Nutrition Compact on February 20, 2025, in the presence of Vice President Shettima, as a common framework for addressing malnutrition.

He said the compact was signed by the NGF chairman on behalf of the 36 states, the president of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) on behalf of the 774 local governments, and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning on behalf of the Federal Government.

He explained that the latest commitment would strengthen the existing compact by adapting lessons from Ethiopia to Nigeria’s circumstances and translating them into concrete actions across the three tiers of government.

Under the new commitments, the governors resolved to declare nutrition a national emergency, establish a National Nutrition Intervention Fund and institutionalise the principle of “One Goal, One Plan and One Budget” for nutrition.

The proposed fund is expected to encourage state-level leadership, increase domestic investment, reward effective implementation and support measurable improvements in nutrition outcomes.

The governors also pledged to ensure that nutrition priorities identified at community and ward levels are incorporated into local government, state and national plans.

They further committed to extending the National Nutrition Scorecard beyond the state level to include local government and ward-level performance indicators, while strengthening the use of data for planning, resource allocation and corrective action.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Muyi Aina, disclosed that the Federal Government would begin targeted nutrition interventions in two states with a high burden of stunting before extending the programme to other states.

Aina, who spoke on behalf of federal agencies, said the Nigerian delegation had learnt valuable lessons from Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation, early childhood development programmes and data-driven initiatives.

He identified clear leadership, alignment across the three tiers of government, evidence-based prioritisation, rigorous measurement and disciplined execution as essential to achieving sustainable results.

According to him, the Federal Government would adopt a focused approach by selecting two states based on their stunting burden, setting clear objectives and developing multisectoral interventions tailored to their needs.

He said relevant ministers and federal agencies would work with the governors and their teams to identify sectoral priorities, define the responsibilities of each tier of government and involve communities and development partners in implementation.

Aina added that the programme would be costed, with participating governments working towards a joint financing arrangement and establishing measurable indicators to track progress.

He also proposed review meetings at three, six and nine months with Vice President Shettima, who chairs the National Council on Nutrition, to assess implementation, address gaps and guide the expansion of the interventions to other states.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, said the exchange had provided important lessons on translating political commitments into practical interventions and measurable nutrition outcomes.

Pate identified focused sectoral action, clear implementation plans, performance matrices and accountability as critical to accelerating Nigeria’s response to malnutrition.

He said the Federal Government would work with state governments to translate the commitments into practical interventions, with progress reported to the Vice President through the National Council on Nutrition.

The minister expressed confidence that Nigeria could adapt Ethiopia’s experience to its own circumstances, stressing that sustained political leadership and coordinated action were essential to achieving results.

He also thanked the Ethiopian government for hosting the Nigerian delegation and invited Ethiopian officials to visit Nigeria to study ongoing initiatives and explore further areas of cooperation.

Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, Dr Mekdes Daba, commended Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening nutrition delivery, describing the leadership exchange as an opportunity for African countries to learn from one another.

Daba said the Nutrition 774 Initiative represented a significant national commitment but stressed that its success would depend on focused interventions, effective implementation, continuous assessment and measurable improvements in people’s lives.

She reaffirmed Ethiopia’s readiness to provide technical support and work with Nigeria as it implements and expands the initiative.

The minister described the exchange as the beginning of a long-term partnership between the two countries, expressing optimism that continued cooperation would strengthen efforts to tackle malnutrition.

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