Dutse, Oct. 24, 2025
Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa state, has pledged to become nutrition champion of the nutrition 774 initiative with Jigawa’s commitment and investment in the fight against malnutrition.
Namadi inaugurated the Council on Friday, when he received the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Mrs Uju Rochas-Anwukah, who paid a courtesy visit to the Governor on Friday in Dutse.
He inaugurated the Jigawa State Nutrition Council, to fulfill the requirements of the Presidential Nutrition 774 initiative, with himself as the Chairman of the Council.
According to the Governor, Jigawa state invests N13.5 million on nutrition monthly, while the State House of Assembly contributes N300 million annually, for the purchase of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods.
According to him, “About 300,000 children have been rescued from malnutrition, with the huge investment and intervention of our administration in fighting malnutrition,”Namadi said.
He stressed that about 1.2 million people are working towards tackling malnutrition in Jigawa through initiatives such as the Masaki nutrition programme.
Namadi said, his administration’s has already invested into local production of food supplement for children where 600 women were already trained on production and packaging of the supplement.
He explained that the Jigawa is awaiting National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to complete registration for the Jigawa nutritional supplement to hit the Nigerian markets.
While the governor has reservations on the data presented on the state’s malnutrition status, he assured that correct figures would be provided to the Nutrition 774 for effective correction.
Earlier in a presentation, Mrs Rochas-Anwukah, explained that Jigawa state needs to scale up efforts on combating nutrition.
She highlighted that the projects strategy demands that Nigerian state Governors set up state nutrition committees, with the Governors as Chairmen of the committees.
The initiative she said, was officially launched by the Vice President Kashim Shettima, in an effort to curtail the menace if malnutrition in Nigeria.
The Presidential assistant however, appealed to Jigawa state to implement the initiative by timely release fund, approving maternity and paternity leave.
She also advocated for the establishment of nutrition departments in Ministries and Departments as well as establish excellence centres as one stop shop.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nutrition 774 (N-774) initiative is a program designed to vitalize and incentivize local action and impeove food security, health and nutrition in Nigeria.
It is a comprehensive multi-sectoral effort designed to address Nigeria’s nutrition and food security challenges by fostering community engagement, multi-level governance and multi-sectoral collaboration.
Aisha Ahmed ✍ from Dutse
