The Secretary to Gombe State government, Gombe State government, Professor Abubakar Njodi has said the state government will continue to prioritise nutrition being a major issue of concern because of its devastating effect to individuals and the economy as a whole.
Professor Njodi gave this indication when he received members of the Gombe state Civil Society Scaling Nutrition (CS-SUNN) coalitional in his office on an advocacy visit.
He said on assumption of office, governor Inuwa Yahaya met a challenging indices that placed Gombe on the last lap of the charter on nutrition among its counterparts across the country and that compelled the administration to increase budgetary allocation on nutrition for the procurement of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food as well as production of nutritious baby feeds using the locally available farm produce as a means of complementary feeding for infants and young children in the state.
The SSG encouraged the people of the state to complement the initiative, rather than depending on government to provide everything for them which he said is not realistic owing to the current economic downturn in the country.
Professor Njodi stressed that the current administration is open to expert suggestions to further enhance its response to malnutrition among women and children.
However, he noted a lack of community support, as many residents depend solely on government initiatives without making efforts to complement them.
This dependency is particularly challenging given the country’s current economic downturn.
Despite the challenges, the government’s nutrition initiatives have yielded positive results, propelling Gombe State from the bottom to the sixth position in nutrition activities among its peers. Professor Njodi promised continued collaboration with relevant organizations to further improve the state’s nutritional status.
During the visit, Mrs. Comfort Mukollo, Coordinator of the Gombe State CS-SUNN, advocated for extending maternity leave to six months for all working-class nursing mothers to facilitate exclusive breastfeeding. She also called for increased budgetary allocation, timely release of funds for nutrition activities, and the provision of crèches at workplaces.
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