By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Kogi State Commissioner of Health, Dr Saka Audu Haruna on Tuesday restated the determination of the state government to eliminate malnutrition from the society.
The Commissioner stated this during the signing of a #12.6bn memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the African Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF) in Lokoja with a view of eliminate the effects of Malnutrition in the State.
Dr Saka Haruna said the State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has sourced about 12.6 billion Naira to fight malnutrition in the State, adding that Nigeria is among the country with the highest cases of malnutrition in the world.
The commissioner who congratulated the AYGF for winning the project to provide nutritional services for mothers and children in the State stressed the need for a joint fight against Malnutrition not just in the state but Nigeria as a whole.
He promised to monitor every steps of the implementation to achieve the needed results and charged the AYGF to do more in achieving the desired results.
Responding, the Executive Director of Africa Youth Growth Foundation, Dr. Arome Salifu commended the State Government for the gesture, saying AYGF is an organization that is more involved in community development or services.
He promised to give their best under the ANRiN project by touching every nook and cranny of the State to reduced the challenges faced by malnutrition.
Dr Arome Salifu promised to deploy all strategies including reaching out to hard to reach areas by using innovative Transportation, Local Languages, Traditional rulers and religious bodies to reach the targets population.
In his remarks Kogi State ANRiN Project Coordinator, Mr Bola Ogundusi appreciated the effort of the State Government for providing the necessary purposeful leadership to fund and address the issues of malnutrition by improving the health challenges of mothers and children in the State.
Mr Ogundusi explained that the State Government spent 50m Naira every year to address nutritional issues and also appreciated the World Bank for partnering with Kogi State in curbing malnutrition and making the resources available to execute some nutritional project.
