NUTRITION 774 INITIATIVE STRATEGY BOARD ADOPTS DOMESTIC FINANCING MODEL FOR NIGERIA, AS VP SHETTIMA ASKS 26 STATES TO INAUGURATE THEIR STATE NUTRITION COUNCILS

The Nutrition 774 Initiative Strategy Board has adopted a domestic financing model as the sustainable foundation for nutrition investment in Nigeria.

This is just as Chairman of the board, Vice President Kashim Shettima, has charged the remaining twenty-seven states that have not inaugurated their State Councils on Nutrition to close the gap by doing so.

The board also mandated the Federal Ministry of Finance and other critical partners to embark on a robust stakeholder engagement programme in order to activate existing financing instruments, including the Presidential Nutrition Intervention Fund (PNIF), the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) levy ring-fence, as funding streams for nutrition and related interventions in Nigeria.

These were among decisions taken on Wednesday during the 2nd High-Level Strategic Board meeting of the Nutrition 774 Initiative chaired by the Vice President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

On the milestones achieved in the operationalisation of the initiative, the board noted the importance of the Nutrition 774 Initiative as the primary governance vehicle for delivering nutrition outcomes at scale across all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

Speaking at the meeting, Senator Shettima, who doubles as Chairman of the N-774 High-Level Strategic Board and Chairman of the National Council on Nutrition, noted that at the subnational level, the state governments and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) must help complete the state-level architecture.

The Vice President urged the NGF and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) to ensure the inauguration of the remaining 26 State Councils on Nutrition and the establishment of the Local Government Committees on Food and Nutrition (LGCFNs) in the remaining 304 Local Government Areas across the country.

On the proposed National Nutrition Bill, Vice President Shettima urged the secretariat to liaise with critical stakeholders in the National Assembly, subnational governments and other partners in the nutrition sector with the view to getting valuable inputs from them before formally transmitting same to the National Assembly.

He called for the activation of domestic financing architecture, warning that as donor financing for nutrition declines across the world, Nigeria can no longer plan on the assumption of indefinite external support.

“The domestic financing architecture must be activated now, in this administration, within this governance cycle, and under the accountability of this Board. At the same time, the first 1,000 days of a child’s life do not wait for memos, circulars, or budget negotiations. While we deliberate, children across this country are within a window of growth that cannot be recovered once lost.

“This is why every constituency in this room must see its role in precise terms. The Federal Ministries here represented have nutrition obligations beyond the Ministry of Health. Agriculture determines the diversity, quality, and quantity of food available to households.

“Finance, Budget, and Economic Planning hold the appropriation-release-expenditure chain, and funds appropriated for nutrition that are never released do not feed children. Education carries the responsibility of knowledge and behaviour change. WASH, Women Affairs, Humanitarian Affairs, and Social Protection each hold a key to prevention, resilience, and access,” he added.

The VP maintained that the legislature must give nutrition the legal backing and enforceability it requires, while development partners “must align investments with the N-774 rail.

“Civil society must hold up the mirror of truth. The private sector must recognise nutrition as an economic issue, because productivity begins with a healthy body and a capable mind,” he stated.

VP Shettima insisted that the ₦500 billion financing gap must be closed, saying every serious government eventually reaches the point where intentions must face instruments.

His words: “The ₦500 billion financing gap before us must move from a figure in a presentation to a funded programme on the ground. The National Nutrition Bill must move from zero draft to the National Assembly.

“The remaining State Councils and LGA Committees must be activated. The reports before us are decision-enabling reports, and our duty is to decide.”

The Vice President noted that the Nutrition 774 High-level Strategic Board was created to serve as a governance and accountability structure for the N-774 Initiative because every member of the NCN has a defined responsibility in the delivery chain.

According to him, the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration “places human capital development at the centre of Nigeria’s development trajectory, and nutrition is the foundation of that human capital.

“A malnourished child cannot become the engineer who builds our roads, the teacher who shapes our classrooms, the scientist who expands our frontiers, or the leader who carries our national burden. They deserve dignity in their aspiration to be what they desire,” he added.

VP Shettima further noted that President Tinubu understands the crucial role of nutrition in a child’s growth “with the urgency of a reformer and the patience of a builder,” and his “commitment to nutrition is a governance directive,” which the Board exists to operationalise.

The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and governor of Kwara State, Alhaji AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman; Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Hon. Chike Okafor; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari; Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Suleiman- Ibrahim; Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, and Permanent Secretaries in the Ministries of Budget and Economic Planning, Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.

The Ministers of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa and Water Resources, Prof. Joseph Ustev, attended the event virtually.

Stanley Nkwocha
Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications
(Office of The Vice President)
17th June, 2026.