Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on local government chairmen across Nigeria to take full responsibility for implementing the Nutrition 774 (N-774) Initiative, describing them as key to the country’s efforts to tackle malnutrition at the grassroots.
Speaking during a meeting with the National Executive Committee of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Shettima urged local councils to strengthen their commitment to improving nutrition across communities.
He also directed ALGON to ensure that Local Government Committees on Food and Nutrition become fully functional, saying they should serve as centres for planning, coordination, implementation and accountability in every local government area.
According to the Vice President, President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving nutrition is a government directive that requires coordinated action at all levels of governance to achieve measurable results.
Shettima stressed that stronger local structures would help translate national nutrition policies into practical outcomes, leading to healthier families, stronger communities and improved opportunities for children.
While acknowledging the efforts of state governments in addressing nutrition challenges, he noted that many local government areas still lack a coordinated nutrition agenda, creating implementation gaps at the community level.
He said local governments, as the closest level of government to the people, have a crucial role to play in addressing malnutrition, poverty, insecurity and other grassroots development challenges.
The Vice President also commended ALGON for supporting the implementation of the Nutrition 774 Initiative through collaboration with technical experts and development partners, as well as efforts to strengthen monitoring, accountability and institutional capacity across the country’s 774 local government areas.
Earlier, ALGON National President Bello Lawal praised the Federal Government for prioritising food security, nutrition, agriculture and human capital development. He reaffirmed the association’s commitment to ensuring the success of the Nutrition 774 Initiative and appealed for greater inclusion of nutrition services for pregnant women and children under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
