Driven by a stark warning that 15 million Children are currently suffering from stunting across Nigeria, Lawmakers, State Leaders and Civil Society Advocates gathered in Lagos for the crucial 2026 Strategic Policy Discourse.
Co-hosted by the Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria – CS-SUNN) and development partners, the high-level dialogue brought together Representatives from 10 states to address a systemic emergency- despite years of awareness campaigns, Nigeria’s childhood malnutrition rates have yet to record a downward trend.
Delivering the keynote address, Honourable Chike Okafor, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, challenged the traditional perspective on food deficits.
“Malnutrition is not a social welfare issue; it is a full-blown economic crisis,” Okafor declared. He framed robust nutrition as the ultimate foundation for human capital development and long-term economic growth in Nigeria.
This position was strongly echoed by Koooffrey Mbang, Chairman of CS-SUNN board of Trustees who emphasized that the dialogue comes at a make-or-break moment.
“Investing in nutrition is the smartest way to achieve human capital development,” Mbah said. “However, we cannot hope for better nutrition outcomes without a radical improvement in policy, financing, legislation, and accountability.”
While awareness programmes exist, the consensus at the Lagos discourse was clear- policies are toothless without legislative teeth. Advocates pointed out that crucial public health milestones—such as securing six months of paid maternity leave and locking down sustainable domestic nutrition financing—are impossible to achieve without legislative action.
To bridge this gap, the Federal Government is looking to leverage the newly minted “Nutrition 774” Initiative. This flagship programme is designed to deliver nutrition outcomes at scale across all 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
Mrs Uju Rochas-Anwukah, Special Assistant to the President on Public Health and focal person for the Nutrition Office of the Vice President, emphasized that the initiative is the ideal vehicle to channel sustainable funding directly to the grassroots.
In a strong show of subnational solidarity, the Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly—representing all Speakers of State Houses of Assemblies in Nigeria—pledged that state legislatures would step up to the plate.
The Speakers committed to enacting stronger regional food security laws. Securing improved and timely release of state-level nutrition funds.
Strengthening legislative oversight and supervision to ensure zero tolerance for fund diversion.
Executive Secretary of CS-SUNN, Sunday Okoronkwo while tracking commitments by state Governments in ending the Nutrition crisis analyzed the exact progress, structural bottlenecks, and emerging opportunities in Nigeria’s war on malnutrition. He detailed how crucial the legislature is in acting as a watchdog.
The discourse wrapped up with a clear, uncompromising mandate for Nigeria’s federal and state lawmakers. The battle to ensure that the country’s nutrition crisis “ends with our generation” relies on a three-pronged legislative shield:
Adequately appropriate for Fund nutrition and food security adequately in every budget cycle for every vulnerable community.
Legislation of six months of paid maternity leave and protect domestic fund allocations for every nursing mother and infant
Enforce absolute transparency in how funds are disbursed and used.
With the launch of the Nutrition 774 framework and a united legislative front, Nigeria’s leaders are aiming to transform nutrition from a charity-dependent sector into a legally protected, nationally funded economic priority.
