Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said beyond physical safety, securing the livelihoods of Nigerians is a guiding principle of the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s policy and interventions in nutrition and food-related issues.

He said this yesterday he was honored with the “National Nutrition Vanguard” Award by the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. In a statement issued by his media aide, Laolu Akande, the NSN said the award was in recognition of the vice president’s immense “contributions to national development and particularly nutrition development in Nigeria.

Osinbajo said “We decided as a government to do a lot more work in the area of nutrition and one of the major issues for us was the consideration that, the most important task for the government was the security of lives and property of the citizens. Security, of course, in terms of physical security but perhaps more, in terms of lives and livelihoods, because really what is the point of providing any physical security for somebody who dies of hunger or who is about to die of hunger? “So, I think, for us, this was so important that we should dedicate time and attention to food security and of course, nutrition.”

“Our work on Human Capital Development which we have done through the National Economic Council and our work in the area of nutrition, through the National Council on Nutrition, is one that we think, we have developed a synergy and we must maintain that synergy. It speaks to our responsibility to the country and our responsibility to the people,” he said. In the citation, NSN said, “Your Excellency, under your leadership as the Chairman of the National Nutrition Council, the Council has provided the purposeful direction in the nutrition landscape in the country as well as increased the visibility of the council in national development.”

It was read by Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, former Kano State deputy governor and a member of the NSN Board of Trustees. The society, according to Abubakar, noted 12 major achievements recorded in the food systems space under the Vice President’s leadership. Some of them include the approval of the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition (NMPFAN) in Nigeria by the Federal Executive Council. High-level support for the Nigeria Food System Dialogue leading to the development of food system transformation pathways

The approval for the establishment of nutrition departments in all relevant MDAs

High-level engagement of the Nigeria Governors Forum for the increase in funding for nutrition at the State level.

Ada Peter