RESPONDING TO A SILENT EMERGENCY
Being the Text of an Address Presented by Governor Alex C. Otti, OFR, at the Launch of N-774 Initiative in Abia State on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at the Banquet Hall, Government House Umuahia
Protocols
- The health and wellbeing of the people is the surest guarantee of the stability and future of any society. What we have therefore gathered to do this morning is beyond the simple matters of feeding and nourishment, it is a timely intervention to save the future of our State and Country by addressing what has become a critical threat to the physical and cognitive development of the people, especially the younger demographics who are the biggest victims of poor nutrition. The statistics that have been shared from the various presentations on the challenge of under-nourishment give real cause for concern and I cannot but keep wondering why we did not pick up this danger signal much earlier.
- I would like to specially thank the Federal Government for this timely intervention and commitment to the stability and future of the Nigerian society which is what the Nutrition-774 initiative (N-774) is all about. The present crisis of malnutrition in the country, especially for vulnerable groups, has been brewing for a long time. I am, however, glad that at last, a holistic framework has been developed to tackle it from the root. The significance of the N-774 programme, beyond the attempt to address a malignant threat to the health and wellbeing of millions of Nigerians, is in its broad outlook and stakeholder approach in the conception and outline of the initiative. The multi-tiered governance structure, the recognition of the place of urban and rural households and the mapping of a robust support ecosystem will guarantee the successful implementation of the initiative in the medium to long term.
- I would like to specially commend the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Mrs Uju Anwuka who also serves as the Focal Person on Nutrition at the Office of the Vice President, for driving this initiative with excellent commitment and determination to achieving specific outcomes. The energy and focus Mrs Anwuka brings to her job, point us to the difference our young men and women can make when given the opportunity to function in public offices. While it is true that we still have a long way to go in expanding political access for these two demographics, I am, however, satisfied that we have recently begun to see more active participation in public service by the female folks and the youth population. The future is clearly for the young and I am quite optimistic that things shall continue to improve as we work to build a more politically-inclusive space.
- Let me also commend the National Council on Nutrition (NCN) led by the Vice President, His Excellency, Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, for choosing Abia to kick-start the N-774 programme in the country. We do not take this honour lightly. One thing I can assure the NCN is that we shall mobilise and commit whatever resources are required to make success of the N-774 framework. We consider it an integral project for the development of our people, especially the children. Those who have followed our activities and policy direction since we assumed office will appreciate that we consider the mental and physical development of our children a foremost priority of governance. Our investments in education and health sectors where we have committed 35% of annual budgets since 2024 are clear pointers to our intention for the holistic development of every child in Abia.
- For us, the broad spectrum of development aspirations are interconnected, so beyond what we do directly for the children, who I believe should be the primary target of this campaign; we also appreciate that you cannot isolate the welfare of the child from the economic and social realities of their parents. We are therefore quite holistic in driving policies and programmes that will have net positive impact on the welfare of families. Our ultimate objective in this regard is to give children the opportunity to enjoy the loving support of parents in healthy households. When therefore we insist that workers must be paid before political leaders, the goal is to ensure that parents have the resources to plan for their day-to-day needs, especially feeding and related family welfare expectations. Our infrastructure development projects, support for rural farmers and continuing investments in security are all geared towards creating safe and productive operational spaces for our breadwinners to earn enough to meet the needs of their dependants, especially children and most times, mothers.
- I would, however, like to add that the success of the N-774 initiative is dependent on what we do with our vast arable land. As many commentators have noted, our country is too blessed to be battling with the crisis of malnutrition on the scale we are currently dealing with. Agriculture in the country is seriously hampered by the challenges of insecurity and social unrest. The N-774 outlook will be bleak if we do not confront the endless threats to our nation’s agricultural value chain especially insecurity, unsuitable or dysfunctional transport infrastructure and the absence of structured support to genuine farmers. It is, however, gratifying that the policy experts who designed the framework appreciate that its success is hinged on how quickly we sort out the difficulties we have in putting our vast agro resources to good use. I would therefore invite all of us as stakeholders to pay serious attention to the agricultural sector and make the much-needed investments to support our gross output.
- How can we begin to deliberately cut down the prices of food items in the country using every economic and policy tool at our disposal? To be clear, I will not advocate for the enactment of decrees or official pronouncements that are ignored soon after they are issued. What may be required here are clear policy instruments to activate the ageless laws of economics but this time, guiding the invisible hand rather than allow it roam wide. Again, we need to ask, who could be sabotaging government’s efforts at making food affordable for Nigerians? How do we incentivise agriculture to make it attractive for our army of young people? How do we make farming safe in most communities? These are the questions we now have to deal with as we begin the N-774 town hall meeting and workshop here in the State and across the country. It may be difficult to find the right answers but it must be admitted that without asking the right questions, we may never find solutions that are optimal.
- Lastly, it has to be stated that efforts at combating malnutrition will necessarily include a commitment to job creation, entrepreneurship promotion and the implementation of policies that enable price stability. The N-774 initiative can only succeed by taking a holistic view of the problems we face on the economic and social fronts. There is a direct link between malnutrition and poverty, malnutrition and unemployment, malnutrition and insecurity and malnutrition and social uncertainty. These realities invite us as stakeholders to think broadly and come up with enduring solutions to the ticking time bomb that is hunger and poor nutrition.
- But again, my approach to challenges is to always engage with a sense of optimism. Nothing is beyond redemption; the statistics are unfaltering but do we have the capacity to confront the challenge headlong, I would say yes. May I restate the commitment of the Abia State Government under our leadership to doing everything required of us to holistically address this terrible scourge afflicting millions of our compatriots. As I had already mentioned, we are not treating malnutrition as an isolated issue. It is part of a larger problem and we are addressing it by investing in critical development frontiers including infrastructure, education and health, agriculture and security. As requested by the N-774 implementation team, we shall work with the Association of Local Governments of Nigerian (ALGON) in the State to drive this programme in the communities. We shall also make all relevant appointments and set up the important structures that would see to the effective implementation of the programme in all the nooks and crannies of our State.
- Thank you for coming to Abia, I wish you a successful stay as I declare the N-774 workshop in the State open. Have a successful deliberation and may God bless us all.
Dr Alex C. Otti, OFR,
July 23, 2025
