Katsina - NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Philip Daniel Yatai
Nov, Fri, 2024

Health

16 LGAs benefit from World Bank’s nutrition project in Katsina

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By Diana Omueza

The African Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF) says three million persons in 16 Local Government Areas in Katsina State have benefitted from the World Bank Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project.

Dr Arome Salifu, Executive Director of AYGF, said this at the Katsina ANRIN stakeholders engagement and project close out ceremony in Abuja.

Salifu said that the foundation was the implementing partner of the World Bank-funded tripartite project that has impacted no fewer than three million Katsina indigenes and residents.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project is between the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Health, and the Katsina State Government through the State Ministry of Health.

“The AYGF implemented the ANRIN project across 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Katsina, where we were able to deploy essential nutritional services across the LGAs

“The project targeted children under five years of age, lactating and nursing mothers as well as expectant mothers.

“Cumulatively, we were able to deliver the services to well over 1.7 million beneficiaries in 16 LGAs and over 4.5 million services within one and a half year,” he said.

Salifu said that the medical packages distributed included folic acid, vitamin A, albendazole, and micronutrient powder.

He said that counselling services were also provided to the critical targets in the state

He commended Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, the state’s ministry of health, the commissioner, the project implementation unit and other stakeholders for the success of the project.

Mr Musa Adamu, Katsina State Commissioner of Health, lauded the impact of the project in addressing the socio-economic aspect of the lives of Katsina people.

According to Adamu, with the effect of global warming, environmental degradation, and climate change on communities, this kind of stakeholders’ engagement is needed to proffer proactive measures.

He said that the state government remained committed to building a secured future for the people.

“The most important aspect of the government is people. This project concentrated on building the next generation because we need to have a very healthy generation coming on board,” he said.

Dr Umar Bello, the Project Coordinator, said that the project targeted prevention of malnutrition among children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers. (NAN)

Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman

Tosin Kolade
Nov, Thu, 2024

General News

World Bank promises more support to education in Katsina

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By Abbas Bamalli

World Bank has promised to continue to provide necessary support to the Katsina State Government toward the development of the education sector.

The World Bank Country Director, Dr Ndiame Diop, made the promise in Katsina on Thursday at the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project Implementation Support Mission (ISM) meeting.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by the state’s Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education, in collaboration with the AGILE office in Katsina.

The project has been supporting the education sector in the state through the construction, rehabilitation of schools, provision of potable water in schools, conditional cash transfer, among others.

The country director, however, said “We are here to learn not just about the project and how we are modestly supporting you, but also to learn about Katsina itself.

“So, I would like to really commend the ministry and the leadership for the commitment to education.

“I’m very pleased to see the progress that you have already made so far. I was just looking at the numbers in 2021 when the project started, the completion rate at the senior secondary education level was only 21 per cent.

“This was very low, and I think by today, the number has gone up quite significantly, but we’re still not there yet.

“But I think the objective should be to really go even further. But I would like to commend you for the commitment”.

Diop added that the global research in Nigeria and elsewhere, shows that each additional year of education at secondary level increases the lifetime earning of the beneficiaries significantly.

He stressed that “if we want to reduce poverty in the future, we cannot skip education, we have to put a lot of efforts and emphasis on the sector.

“As you know better than me, education is a sector that’s complex, with many stakeholders involved and many factors affecting the result, that’s why leadership and commitment at the top is critical”.

He pointed out that basically, officials cannot make significant progress in education without strong commitment and leadership, commending the state government and other stakeholders’ commitment.

“I also want to reiterate the commitment of the World Bank to continue supporting this sector to achieve the results that you have sets for yourselves,” the country director assured.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Zainab Musawa, said huge successes were recorded in the sector, “due to the political will of Gov. Dikko Radda.

“I would like to assure you that anything education, comes from the bottom of his heart. He takes it so personal that nothing slips under the carpet without his knowledge or decision.

“The ministry is the highest level of decision making in terms of education. We have about five agencies, 13 departments that are very key and institutional to education in the state.

“I would like to say that AGILE has been able to give the girl-child the opportunity to know that she is special.”(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu