Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewrudjakpo, has urged a non-governmental organisation, Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), to develop an effective work plan for proper nutrition awareness campaign across communities in the State.

He gave the task on Thursday when the State Chapter of the group paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo lamented that the worrisome indices concerning nutrition in the State was largely based on data from the rural communities, calling on the NGO to set up branches in the eight Local Government Areas of the State.

According to him, there is a compelling need to carry out behaviour change communication to break the vicious cycle of poor nutrition, using the local dialects in the various radio stations.

He expressed concern over the growing preference for fast food, iced fish and beef by rural dwellers to the detriment of naturally rich sources of nutrition such as snails, periwinkle and other locally sourced food items, which are more beneficial to their overall health.

On non-utilization of funds allocated to nutrition in the Bayelsa State annual budget, he assured the CS-SUNN delegation that government would address it appropriately to promote good nutrition in the State.

“Most of these data are as a result of what is happening in the rural areas. If you interrogate women in the rural areas, who have been convinced or persuaded by emotions or sentiments, not to eat snail or periwinkle.

“They have been convinced that it is only when they eat beef or chicken or iced fish that they have become civilised. Because of such erroneous thinking, most of our people have launched themselves into the fast food and confectionery, and the trend has gone down to the rural areas.

“We need adequate behavior change communication to break the vicious cycle of poor nutrition; we have to break that vicious cycle. We need to do more in  communication. It is an issue we need to address; I agree we have not been doing too well in this area.

“We need to drill down the need for advocacy. We must reel out that message using all the local dialects of the Ijaw language in Kolokuma, Epie-Atissa, Ogbia, and others to convey the message to our communities.

“You have to develop a work plan for us, get to our rural communities. It is also necessary to set up local government branches of the CS-SUNN”, he said.

Earlier in their joint presentation, the State Coordinator of CS-SUNN, Mrs. Unity Ototo, the Project Lead, Mr. Ambrose Evhoesor, and the Senior Project Officer, Mr. Kunle Ishola, said the organization was concerned about the statistics of nutrition, especially among children in the State.

They explained that the organisation currently enjoys presence in 30 states in Nigeria,  including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

While applauding the State Government’s responsiveness to address poor nutrition through partnership with the CS-SUNN, the trio called on government to fully utilize the state’s budgetary allocation for nutrition.

They also appealed for the approval of six-month maternity leave for nursing mothers to encourage exclusive breastfeeding of newborns.s

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa