Vice President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday called on faith and traditional leaders to champion the effort to improve nutrition in their various communities.

He urged the leaders to champion proper nutrition practices in their spheres, integrating nutrition education into places of worship and cultural gatherings.

“Your influence is indispensable. We believe that, regardless of the quality of ideas we bring to the table, our efforts will fall short without your participation and endorsement,” Shettima told faith leaders at a high-level dialogue on nutrition at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with the theme, ‘Faith Leaders as Catalysts for Enhanced Human Capital Through Nutrition.’

The event was organised by the National Council on Nutrition and the World Bank-assisted Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria Project.

Nkwocha said Shettima appealed directly to the religious and traditional figures in attendance, calling them “prime cultural influencers” and a “gateway to a Nigeria defined by mutual understanding, peace, unity and social cohesion.”

The VP stressed that Nigeria’s future readiness hinges not just on food abundance but also on the nourishing quality of its food supply.

“We must proclaim to the world that our commitment to producing food of unparalleled richness is not rhetoric,” Shettima declared, noting that “this gathering is a solemn pledge to safeguard our well-being and preserve the legacy of generations yet to come.”

He restated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to prioritising nutrition as part of Nigeria’s food security drive.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated his commitment to prioritising nutrition as an integral component of our quest for food sufficiency. This is our inspiration to implement quality, cost-effective nutrition services.

“From providing support to pregnant and lactating women to ensuring the well-being of adolescent girls and children under five years of age, President Tinubu’s vision has propelled us towards a future where every Nigerian has access to the nourishment they need to thrive,” he said.

The Vice President cited initiatives such as the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria programme as vital efforts to scale up nutrition interventions nationwide.

However, they admitted the government’s inability to succeed alone, saying it would depend on the support and guidance of traditional and faith leaders.

“This is an avenue to reassure you that we are committed to more than just talk; we will take tangible action by reaching out to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including pregnant women, children, and the elderly,” the Vice President told them.

He thanked federal ministries and partners like the World Bank for supporting the nutrition drive in Nigeria, adding that “together, let us stand as beacons of hope, leading the charge towards a healthier and more prosperous tomorrow for all.”

Earlier, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said malnutrition and related challenges have over the years negatively impacted human capital development, requiring accelerated interventions.

Bagudu described the efforts and interventions of the National Economic Council (chaired by the Vice President) and the engagement with faith-based leaders as testimonies that Nigeria has the institutional mechanism to combat hunger and malnutrition with their associated challenges.

On his part, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, said the engagement with faith-based leaders was not just a dialogue but a clarion call for action to address one of society’s most disturbing challenges.

Pate called on religious and traditional leaders in Nigeria to leverage their network and influence in society to support the government in combating hunger and malnutrition, describing faith-based leaders as the backbone of their communities, hence their importance in improving the nutritional outcomes in their various domains.

In separate remarks, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. Daniel Okoh, pledged the commitment of their communities and congregations to the efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition in the country, stating that their presence at the event underscored their loyalty to the campaign.

While advocating attitudinal change by communities and individuals, the faith leaders promised to propagate campaign messages that improve nutritional outcomes in families and communities.

These will be integrated into messages in places of worship to accelerate the fight against hunger and malnutrition.

In a goodwill message on behalf of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, the 14th Emir of Kano and Chair of the Council, Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi II, highlighted some of the negative indices of malnutrition and its related issues across the country, advocating a change in attitude and strategies by all stakeholders.

Sanusi said providing for the nutritional needs of children and pregnant women has religious implications and must be viewed as a right owed to the child and his or her mother.

Other speakers at the occasion included the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; the out-going World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhri; Managing Director of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, and the Chief Imam of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Prof. Mansur Yelwa, among others.

The high point of the occasion was the launch of two manuals, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria: Sermon Guides and Faith Perspectives on Nutrition, by the Vice President.

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NSCIA expressed sadness that the hoodlums now target Muslim worshippers.

According to a statement issued on Friday by the Chairman, Media Committee of NSCIA, Femi Abbas: “The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs is well informed that the Muslims in those regions are now living in fear of uncertainty, having been marked for possible annihilation or massacre, for practicing a religion other than Christianity.

“The danger in this development is that a precedent is being aggressively set for a religious war, the consequences of which no one can predict with precision. The incidents that led to the current nationwide protests are well known and well defined.

“The attention of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), has been drawn to a dangerous trend recklessly emerging in certain parts of the South-East and South-South of Nigeria with unbridled impunity.

From reliable information reaching the apex body of Nigerian Muslim Ummah, the current mass protests embarked upon by Nigerian youths across the country, seems to have assumed a dangerous religious posture as Mosques and Muslim worshippers are now the targets of protesters’ violence in those parts of the country.

“For instance, The Central Mosque of Orlu, in Imo State, was viciously attacked and burnt down last Wednesday (October 21, 2020) with one Muslim worshipper callously killed, while about four others were terribly injured by the so-called ‘peaceful protesters’. Those injured are now in hospital receiving treatment with little hope for survival.

“Before mayhem was fully unleashed on that Mosque, the personal belongings of the worshippers met therein were carted away in a gangsteric style of predators. Those incidents, which mainly concern Police brutality, have nothing to do with religion and Nigerian constitution guarantees freedom of worship in all parts of the country.

“Judging by many inciting utterances coming out of some houses of worship, in the name of sermon, in certain parts of the country, before the outbreak of the ongoing protests, the NSCIA had suspected that a hidden agenda was being built, in certain quarters, to engender a dubious insurrection that could serve as a precursor for a religious war in the land.”

NSCIA said as a country, Nigeria has enough political and economic problems to grapple with, already: “Therefore, adding any religious dimension to those problems may spell doom for this giant of Africa.”

It called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the dangerous development: “the escalation of which may precipitate a deleterious situation for Nigeria.

“In matters of provocation and aggression, the NSCIA has been patient enough, but it cannot be forced to go beyond its elasticity limit as an apex religious body with millions of worshippers as its members.”

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The Sultan said that the late Sardauna carved a niche for himself as a committed, detribalised, selfless and visionary leader whose interest was mainly for the progress and development of the North.

Speaking while delivering his speech during the 50th commemoration of the demise of Sir Ahmadu Bello organized by the Memorial Foundation, Sultan Abubakar said it was time the present crop of leaders put hands on deck to reverse the socio-economic backwardness facing the North.

While emphasizing that northern leaders needed to be focused and committed to tackling problems such as illiteracy, poverty and unemployment, he noted that the time to work is now.

“Fifty years after Sardauna’s death, let’s work with his blue prints and the ethics he left for us, let us avoid all forms of religious bigotry and rivalry,” he noted.

The Sultan who is also the President, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs of Nigeria as well as Chairman Northern Council of Chiefs, tasked northern governors and other leaders to especially find solutions to the lingering unemployment problem in the region.

He stated that “unemployed youths are like time bomb waiting to explode. Whoever has nothing to do will do anything available. Therefore find a way to engage our jobless youths and get our children off the streets and make them useful to the society.”

As a means of tackling part of the unemployment problem, the Sultan urged the northern governors to see to the resuscitation of the Ajaokuta steel company and other comatose industries in the region.

He also advised the northern governors to find a way of diversifying the economy of the north from being oil dependent to agriculture-based, noting that “If we face these issues of Ajaokuta revival, employment creation and diversification from oil to agriculture squarely, in the next four to five years, the north will be better for it.”

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