Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has described the country’s health workforce as one of the best, expressing confidence in its ability to effectively utilise international assistance despite the reported 6.4 million cases of acute child malnutrition in the country.
Tinubu gave the assurance on Monday when the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, led a delegation from the US-based Operation End Starvation initiative and other government agencies to seek her support for a partnership to tackle hunger and child malnutrition.
The First Lady praised the expertise, commitment and dedication of Nigerian professionals, insisting that the country had the manpower needed to deliver results if provided with adequate support.
She assured the delegation that any assistance received would be put to effective use by the country’s health team.
“I assure you that whatever aid you give us, this health team would put it to good use,” she said.
The proposed partnership is aimed at strengthening the Federal Government’s efforts to combat acute child malnutrition and prevent deaths associated with starvation.
Speaking during the meeting, Pate said Nigeria was intensifying efforts to reduce the burden of malnutrition, which he put at 6.4 million cases of acute child malnutrition.
He also highlighted the National Community Food Bank Programme, implemented in partnership with the Office of the First Lady, as part of ongoing interventions to support vulnerable children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers across the country’s six geopolitical zones.
“A lot of good things are already happening in the country,” the minister said, reaffirming the government’s commitment to addressing malnutrition through existing policies and programmes.
The Chief Executive Officer of Operation End Starvation, Williams Holdsworth Moore, said the initiative was seeking to mobilise more than $1bn annually to prevent child deaths caused by starvation.
He explained that the programme, supported by a major grant from the US government and contributions from international philanthropists, was seeking partnerships with governments to deliver large-scale interventions against malnutrition across sub-Saharan Africa.
Moore said Nigeria had been approved for inclusion in the programme’s plans, adding that the organisation was impressed by the capacity of the country’s health workforce.
“We have met with the Nigerian health team, and they are one of the best of many we have met,” he said.
The initiative, promoted by the Eleanor Crook Foundation, aims to make Nigeria a major focus of its activities over the next two years, using direct partnerships with government institutions to demonstrate the impact of large-scale investment in tackling child malnutrition.
Tinubu also said President Bola Tinubu’s administration was pursuing reforms aimed at improving the country’s systems and expressed optimism that the efforts would yield positive results.
She maintained that Nigeria deserved adequate support to strengthen its institutions and improve the welfare of its citizens.
The proposed collaboration is expected to reinforce ongoing efforts to improve nutrition and reduce preventable deaths among vulnerable children and mothers.
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