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Prevent group from becoming moribund –Permsec
The Executive Secretary of the Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), Mr Sunday Okoronkwo has said the formal inauguration of the Orile-Agege Local Council Development Authority (LCDA) on Food and Nutrition will contribute to the provision of optimal nutrition as well as eradicate malnutrition in citizens at the grassroots level. Also, the Perm Secretary at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye urged members of the newly inaugurated Committee to work very hard to ensure the project from becoming moribund like several government projects that have become extinct.
Okoronkwo made this known when the CS-SUNN in partnership with the Lagos State Government inaugurated the first Lagos State Local Government Committee on Food and Nutrition (Lagos-GCFN) and the Basic Health Care Provision Work Plan Business Case Development for the Lagos State Government at the Orile-Agege LCDA last week. Okoronkwo said the citing of the Committee at the local government level is in line with the framework of the National Policy on Food and Nutrition, the structures of which exist at the national, states, local governments and in the ward committee levels.
According to him, the essence of having it at the local government level is because nutrition is a multi- sectoral issue and “we all have to contribute our different quotas. This committee is the coming together of officers from different ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) at the local government level to contribute to the provision of optimal nutrition and the eradication of malnutrition at the grassroots level.” However, he said the committee in Orile- Agege LCDA is a pilot.
“We are always here to support the state government through the state committee on food and nutrition and to make sure that coordination becomes more effective and efficient. “We are all looking for synergy across all the LCDAs and the local government areas in Lagos state,” he added.
The Executive Secretary of CS-SUNN) noted that the work members of the committee have been established to do is their responsibility and mandate based on the policy on food and nutrition; CS-SUNN is there to help.” On his part, Ogboye who was represented by Olubunmi Braheem, Lagos State Nutrition Officer, lamented that 17.3 per cent of children in Lagos State are stunted, adding that 17. 3 per cent accounts for more than five million children that are stunted in the state. Although the children will look normal going around, stunting is irreversible.
He noted that when a child is stunted for a year, it is permanent damage to the brain and everything; that is how the child will grow up. “This is one of the reasons the Lagos State Government is trying to get the right nutrition for children before they get to two years. Another reason for getting the nutrition right is to ensure the state reduces the rate of stunting by 10 per cent by 2025, he added. However, Ogboye said the state government wants to attain the highest standard of health for all, not only the children alone.
“We are not looking at the children alone: we want all the citizens of the state to see that we are interested in them.” According to him, these are part of the mandate which the newly inaugurated Committee will oversee and address. Explaining why the state government keyed into the project, the Executive Chairman of Orile-Agege LCDA, Johnson Sunday Babatunde said one of the basic needs of Nigerians is food, clothing and shelter all of which play very prominent role in keeping people alive. To this end, he said, the state government is nutrition driven. “We are creating a system that is responsible and responsive to the needs of the people, to listen to the yearnings of the people. Our government is very interested in anything that has to do with the people, we take it up. It is people oriented; it is not for political reason.” Similarly, he noted that most of the prevalent diseases these days have to do with nutrition. “Carbohydrates are the basic meal that Nigerians take so we want to sensitise them that there is need for a balanced diet.
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