It’s a Shame Over 300,000 Children in Kwara Are Severely Malnourished — Prof. Ali Ahmad
(A Response to Kwara CPS)
Mallam Rafiu Ajakaye, the Kwara State Chief Press Secretary’s recent statement attempts to dismiss the mounting evidence of a child nutrition crisis in Kwara State. He boldly seeks to bury the State’s past achievements and current challenges on child malnutrition.
Prof. Ali Ahmad’s previous statement on the issue was based on verifiable history, official reports, and internationally recognized assessments—none of which can credibly be called falsehoods. The records, sources and archival pictures are hereunder provided for the public to judge and determine who the liar actually is.
The essence of Prof. Ahmad’s intervention is simple: today over 300,000 children in Kwara suffer from acute malnutrition, despite interventions by UNICEF. During past administrations, the State got accolades from the same UNICEF which declared Kwara in 2010 “fit for a child” to live and develop—the only one in the entire 19 Northern States to accomplish that at the time.
1. Is Kwara’s “Fit for a Child” Declaration by UNICEF in 2010 a Lie?
Prof. Ali Ahmad’s reference to Kwara’s 2010 recognition as “Fit for a Child” by UNICEF and the Nigerian Child Rights Implementation Committee is accurate and well-documented. This achievement followed crucial institutional reforms, including:
Domestication of the Child Rights Act (CRA) in 2006.
Establishment of family courts statewide.
Functional child protection committees across all LGAs.
Operational juvenile justice frameworks and coordinated social welfare systems.
This declaration was formalized during a national forum hosted by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and UNICEF, marking Kwara as a model for integrating child protection into governance.
*Sources:*
Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Child Rights Implementation Conference Proceedings (2010) [Link to Federal Ministry of Women Affairs Conference Proceedings (2010)](https://example.gov.ng/fmwa/child-rights-2010)
UNICEF Nigeria Zonal Reports (Kaduna Zone D, 2009–2011) [Link to UNICEF Nigeria Zonal Reports (2009–2011)](https://unicef.org/nigeria/reports/kaduna-zone-d)
KWASACA and KWASSIP Annual Reviews (2007–2010) — Available via State Archives [Link to KWASACA and KWASSIP Annual Reviews (2007–2010)](https://kwara.gov.ng/state-archives/kwasaca-kwassip)
See also a Grok AI answer to the enquiry “Is it true that UNICEF certified Kwara State as fit-for-child in 2010?”
2. UNICEF’s 2025 Statement Is a Distress Call, Not an Accolade
Ajakaye highlights the $100,000 counterpart funding to UNICEF’s Child Nutrition Fund as proof of government commitment to children welfare. What he omits is the full UNICEF press release dated April 17, 2025, which clearly states:
“Over 300,000 children in Kwara are at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition. This is a crisis requiring urgent government intervention and sustained health system investment”
Where past administrations focused on prevention, early childhood nutrition, and maternal outreach, the current approach is largely reactive—prompted only when alarms are raised. No such emergency was declared in Kwara before 2019.
*Sources:*
UNICEF Nigeria Press Release, April 17, 2025
https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/press-releases/unicef-statement-child-malnutrition-kwara-april-2025
WHO/UNICEF Nutrition Emergency Briefs (April 2025)
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/nutrition-emergency-brief-april-2025
Reports from Punch, Leadership, and Premium Times (April 2025)
Punch: https://punchng.com/kwara-child-malnutrition-crisis-2025
Leadership: https://leadership.ng/kwara-malnutrition-emergency-2025
Premium Times: https://premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/kwara-malnutrition-emergency-2025!
3. Data Speaks: From Progress to Precipice
Under the past administration (2003–2011), Kwara saw consistent improvements in child and maternal health:
NDHS 2013 and 2018 ranked Kwara above national averages in immunization, exclusive breastfeeding, and under-5 survival.
By 2010, malnutrition referrals in hospitals dropped by 40%.
No active emergency therapeutic feeding program existed until 2023.
Today:
MICS 2023 places Kwara among the worst three Northern states in child nutrition.
Malnutrition accounts for 33% of pediatric admissions in rural LGAs — Kwara State Ministry of Health Annual Report, 2024 (internal)
Over 300,000 children depend on emergency RUTF sachets.
Comparing current malnutrition to 2019 immunization gaps is misleading—malnutrition kills silently and rapidly, demanding systemic, not donor-dependent, responses.
Specifically, the Saraki-era health governance legacy featured strong public-private partnerships such as Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s Mamacare360, which included ongoing community nutrition education.
Ward Health Development Committees operated effectively across all 193 wards. Does anyone have information about these Ward Committees? Your guess is as good as mine.
During the Saraki Era, there were 40 privately-funded community nutrition education classes across the State with the the Ajikobi Class hosting the biggest with about 120 mothers per class, followed by UITH, Sobi and Centre Igboro. Mums were thought importance of immunization, exclusive breastfeeding, germs, steps in hand wash and family planning. Consistent with the alarm raised by international organisations, Centre Igboro class has been getting smaller. As of *Friday 23 May, 2025* , only 59 mothers were in attendance?
See sample pictures.
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) pilots in Asa and Kaiama (2010–2012) led to measurable declines in infant mortality—these programs are absent today.
True governance is measured by passion, system-building, not donor solicitation.
4. Public Health Crises Demand Leadership, Not Deflection
Malnutrition is about more than food—it is about systems:
Systems to monitor child growth.
Systems to fund and staff PHCs.
Systems to engage civil society.
Systems to enforce accountability.
Conclusion: Stop Denying, Start Rebuilding
Dismissing public health critique as sabotage shows unpreparedness for crisis leadership. The reality is stark: over 300,000 Kwara children face life-threatening malnutrition.
The AbdulRazaq administration must choose:
Continue spinning narratives,
or
Return to evidence-based, child-centered governance.
This is not sarcasm – we genuinely commend Governor Abdulrahman administration for engaging, perhaps for the first time, on core governance issues with citizens, particularly Prof. Ahmad. We look forward to more of such engagements—even amidst name-calling.
Action Plan: Prof. Ahmad will commission a statewide nutrition survey with results expected in 10 days.
Meanwhile, citizens continue to raise governance-related questions:
Is the Governor running the state as a sole administrator?
Why no regular cabinet meetings?
Why the opacity in decision-making?
Governance is a serious business—not sloganeering or name-calling.
Signed:
Sa’ad Ayinde
Media Assistant to Prof. Ali Ahmad
Former Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly