Fred Ezeh
Minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, has suggested that more opportunities should be provided for Nigerians to get adequate education on food and nutrition.
He said that adequate knowledge of nutrition would help Nigerians feed well and most importantly, pass same knowledge to their children to reduce high cases of acute malnutrition which has threatened millions the lives of millions of children in Nigeria, especially the northern states.
The minister who was represented by head of child right bureau, Federal ministry of information, Olumide Osanyipeju, spoke at a DFID sponsored media dialogue in Maiduguri, Borno state, on Thursday.
He was afraid that future of Nigeria could be under serious threat because of increasing number of children being attacked by Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
He insisted that Nigeria’s future depend on producing healthy and well nourished children that are well prepared to take their place in local and international discussions.
“Unfortunately, otherwise seem to be the case. Large number of Nigerian children are at risk of deprivations of basic social amenities, of which nutrition is inclusive, especially in the northern rural and hard-to-reach communities.”
He, however, appreciated DFID, UNICEF and other international donor agencies for their interventions that have improved nutrition and other health care indices in Nigeria, especially in the north.
He promised that Federal Government will continue to offer support to any cause that will further improve the living standards of Nigerian children especially as it concern their development age, 1 to 5 years.
UNICEF communication specialist, Geoffrey Njoku, explained in his remarks, that the objectives of the media dialogue was to expose journalists, civil right groups and other stakeholders to the state of child nutrition in Borno and other neighboring states, in order to raise awareness and attract global attention to the matter.