Otu lists nutrition, preventive healthcare as administration’s core agenda

Bassey Otu of Cross River has listed nutrition and preventive healthcare as core aspects of his administration’s human capital development agenda.
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Otu who stated this on Thursday in Calabar while inaugurating a 15-member council on nutrition said that his administration would continue to evolve policies that would drive human capital development.

The governor said that the state cannot talk about productivity if the citizenry lacked good health and adequate nutrition.

“Nutrition is the starting point of everything my administration hopes to achieve. This council is a decisive step toward investing in the people.

“No society can achieve sustainable progress without first laying a solid foundation for the health and education of the citizens.

“Everything we do must put the people at the center, that is why health and education are at the core of our development plan,” he said.

He assured that the council would work in synergy with the Federal Government, donor agencies, and community-based structures to expand nutrition programmes in the state
Otu said that the state government would scale up school feeding, fortify staple foods with essential vitamins and minerals, and create awareness that would change family diets.

“Our children deserve a healthier start in life. We shall also ensure that investments in nutrition directly translate into stronger educational outcomes and improved economic productivity.

“The healthier the child, the better they learn, the stronger the workforce, the more prosperous the economy, this is the logic behind our investment in nutrition,” Otu said.

Our correspondent reports that the 15-member council which is headed by the governor, has Mr Bong Duke, the Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission as deputy.

The council also has all local government council chairmen in the state and heads of relevant ministries as members.