KEY POINTS
- Abbas speaks as the House of Representatives Speaker to declare food insecurity as a critical national issue needing new laws to resolve it.
- The House food security initiative obtains backing from various state parliamentary bodies.
- A gathering of the National Legislative Network on Nutrition and Food Security has been scheduled to meet Vice-President Shettima.
Tajudeen Abbas who serves as the Speaker of the House of Representatives declared food insecurity as a severe national problem that requires swift multi-tier government intervention.
The National Assembly alongside the State Houses of Assembly must completely participate in legislative actions to combat hunger and malnutrition according to the speaker.
Urging legislative action
Abbas addressed a combined gathering of House Committee on Food Security and Malnutrition and National Legislative Network on Nutrition and Food Security on Tuesday to demand immediate steps from parliamentarians for fighting hunger and malnutrition across Nigeria.
The parliamentarian action which lightens people’s burden regarding hunger and malnutrition stands as an enormous national service according to his view.
Nobody should drop their commitment to food security until Nigeria achieves lasting sustainability in its food production system he explained.
Positive outcomes from the initiative
Abbas declared the food security initiative produced by the House as a unique historical achievement that brought pride to Nigeria’s parliamentary record. The food security initiative received extensive backing because each of the 36 state Speakers had joined the campaign to combat food insecurity.
The committee transcended its initial status as a House of Representative baby to become the country-wide product that Nigeria embraced wholeheartedly according to Abbas. Okafor earned strong praise from Abbas for his dedicated and ambitious leadership of the food security campaign.
Expansion to the sub-national level
The fight against food insecurity extends beyond Abuja because Chinedu Okafor who chairs the Committee insists that the battle needs to spread nationwide. During his meeting with Oyo State Assembly speaker Adebo Ogundoyin he organized the retreat which took place in Owerri Imo State.
All participants at the retreat decided to establish state-level food security committees while modifying federal laws to become suitable for local needs.
Okafor introduced the National Legislative Network on Nutrition and Food Security as a coordinating network to improve national food insecurity response. The network arranged a meeting with Vice-President Kashim Shettima to determine additional solutions to food Insecurity.
