Writing by Usman Sani;Editing by Abubakar Hamza.
Nigerian Governors Forum-NGF have expressed readiness to take the leadership to shape the early years agenda to reflect realities and support frontline workers.
They also aligned on the urgency to invest in the first two thousand days of lives.
The Governors took the stand when they hosted the world bank on the sidelines of a joint emergency meeting held in Kaduna.
In his presentation, Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State opened the interventions by highlighting the strong links between poverty and poor early childhood development outcomes.
He commended the world bank’s results based instruments and offered constructive suggestions for strengthening them.
On his part, Governor Umar Bago of Niger State underscored the importance of micronutrients, including fortified and biofortified foods already being produced locally.
Governor Caleb Muftwang of Plateau State acknowledged the complexity of multisectoral initiatives, affirming his commitment to strengthening evidence informed institutional and delivery managements.
According to Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State noted that while many challenges were legacy issues, the region now has a real opportunity to turn the tide through decisive early years investments.
Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya expressed satisfaction with the State’s strong partnership with the world bank.
Other Governors welcomed the analysis and affirmed their readiness to engage further.
The team lead for stunting and early years at the world bank, Dr Ritgak Tilley-Gyado, outlined the demographic, economic and service-delivery imperatives for strengthening the first two thousand days of Infant lives.
Dr Tilley-Gyado explained that they were at the forum as part of ongoing national consultations on strengthening Nigeria’s human capital, which focused on the country’s early years priorities, with emphasis on nutrition, early learning and child development in the first two thousand days of life.
She highlighted the importance of preventing stunting, supporting early stimulation and foundational learning and strengthening family systems to empower and ensure responsive caregiving and positive parenting.
Also speaking, World Bank country Director for Nigeria, Dr Mathew Verghis said that states hold the largest delivery responsibility and are therefore central to shaping a nationally coherent, yet locally grounded approach that can deliver results at scale.
He pointed out that the consultations were part of a deliberate, evidence-first process to build a nationally coherent and state-responsive early years platform grounded in local realities and multisectoral priorities.
“Nigeria’s early years agenda is expected to form a core component of broader human capital efforts being advanced under the national economic council’s human capital development framework”
The first two thousand days refers to the period from conception to approximately age five, which is critically important for a child’s long-term development
During this phase, a child’s brain and body undergo rapid development, making adequate nutrition, healthcare, stimulation and foundational learning interventions crucial for lifelong health, learning and productivity.
The consensus of the Governors was that investing in the two thousand days early days of children is the most important investment they can make if they want peace, productivity and a stronger northern economy.
Usman Sani.
