by Tari Amgbare
The Bayelsa State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has inaugurated Local Government Committees on Food and Nutrition (LGCFN) in the eight local government areas under the Nutrition-774 (N-774) initiative.
The committees were inaugurated in Yenagoa by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Thompson Amule.
Amule charged members to see their appointment as a call to service and to collaborate with stakeholders to reduce malnutrition and improve food security.
He expressed confidence that the committees would strengthen grassroots ownership of nutrition programmes and enhance maternal and child health.
In her keynote address, the Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, commended the state government for its commitment to maternal and child nutrition.
Lafoucriere described the inauguration as a significant milestone, noting that real progress would be achieved when local governments are empowered to plan, fund and implement nutrition interventions at the grassroots.
She praised the state’s focus on ensuring adequate nutrition for every child during the first 1,000 days of life, which is critical to physical growth and brain development.
The UNICEF chief, who was on her first visit to Bayelsa, reaffirmed the organisation’s support for the state and expressed optimism that Bayelsa would become a national model for food and nutrition programming.
She disclosed that Bayelsa had committed N140 million to the Child Nutrition Match Fund, which UNICEF would match with another N140 million, bringing the total to N280 million for procurement of nutrition commodities for children in the state.
She added that plans were underway to establish a Centre of Excellence for Food and Nutrition that would benefit Bayelsa and the country.
In her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Premoboere Soroh, described nutrition as a critical pillar of sustainable development and urged the committees to discharge their duties with commitment and accountability.
Also speaking, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Mr Oluniyi Oyedokun, said the N-774 initiative was aimed at ensuring nutrition services reach all 774 local government areas in the country.
Oyedokun said Bayelsa’s implementation strategy, tagged B-8 Response, reflected the collective commitment of the eight councils to improve nutrition outcomes.
He noted that 40 per cent of Nigerian children are stunted, while 27.6 per cent of children aged zero to five in Bayelsa are stunted, stressing that nutrition should be treated as an investment and not as social welfare.
The Director of Planning in the ministry, Mr Agraka Tigele Solomon, said the committees would work with the State Committee on Food and Nutrition to coordinate programmes at the grassroots.
Mrs Egelur Peremoboere Maudlyn outlined the committees’ responsibilities to include data collection on under-five children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, budgetary provision for nutrition and facilitation of counterpart funding for nutrition interventions.
The N-774 programme, an initiative of the Vice President and Chairman of the National Council on Nutrition, seeks to decentralise nutrition interventions by empowering local governments to plan, finance and implement programmes to address malnutrition among women and children.
