BY AFOLABI GAMBARI
It is obvious that the Federal and Borno State governments have yet to weigh implications of the prolonged insurgency in the north-east and, specifically, that for every single day that they fail to crush the insurgents, disaster awaits not only Borno State but the entire country in the foreseeable future.
A report emerged over the weekend in Maiduguri that about 440,000 children in the area are now suffering from acute malnutrition. The report, which came to light at the end of an emergency meeting between the UNICEF and stakeholders, said the scourge has also spread to neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa States where effects of the insurgency are being felt. Experts at the meeting said children below five years of age are mostly affected and about N4.5billion would be needed to effect urgent intervention. According to the experts, of the amount required, only about N600million has so far been secured, a far cry from what is needed to stem the mortal tide as only about 260,000 cartons of Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) has been procured.
Influx of internally displaced persons into the already filled IDP camps is said to be worsening the child malnutrition challenge as government funding is overstretched with hardly any hope for further assistance in sight. The absence of a contingency plan is also worsening the situation, thereby posing huge challenge to the intervention by non-governmental organizations and other aid agencies. Coupled with this is the continuing insurgency that has threatened food security in the troubled area.
The future of Nigeria can only be imagined with almost half a million children facing stunted growth arising from the acute malnutrition in one State. The first 1,000 days of any child have been discovered to be vital, according to UNICEF which counsels that a child must enjoy exclusive breast feeding for at least 180 days which total six months. This, UNICEF says, this would put the child on a sound footing in the journey of life in order to be free from life-threatening ailments as well as enable the brain to function optimally, in addition to making the child to ultimately contribute meaningfully to the society. Educating the mothers on breast feeding of babies could sometimes look easy. But that is only how it sounds. It can also be as hazardous, as health workers in various Nigerian communities, especially in the Northeast and Northwest, contend with several challenges that include religious and cultural ones. The insurgency also poses huge threat to reaching mothers that need education on child nutrition, in addition to the prevalent loss of livelihoods, while limited dieting diversity also poses no less formidable threat.
Without a doubt, however, education is key to seeking sustainable solution to all forms of child malnutrition. But education without adequate funding will still stall progress, if not altogether cause unmitigated setback for the intervention efforts that have been made by the government and aid agencies. Over the years, for instance, not all funds allocated to waging war on child malnutrition have been released. In some cases, funds have been released at the end of every year while in other cases not released at all, despite the United Nations having declared 2016 to 2026 as ‘Decade of Nutrition’. A Nigerian government that has several priorities, especially in the Northeast, chief of which is the war against insurgency, still requires about $100million to address child malnutrition that is ravaging the region while UNICEF itself requires over $1billion to tackle the malaise that has left the region with 42.8 per cent affliction of the 2.5million affected children in Nigeria, only trailing the Northwest that has the highest rate in the country with 50.4 per cent.
The situation is desperate. Timely intervention is therefore demanded.
