Malnutrition crisis in northern Nigeria: mobilization is urgently needed to avoid further deaths

By: Abdulkareem Yakubu

Northern Nigeria is currently facing an alarming malnutrition crisis. In Katsina State for instance, where Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been present since 2021, the teams are seeing an ever-increasing number of malnourished children in its therapeutic feeding centers, with increasingly severe conditions and higher mortality rates. In collaboration with the local authorities, emergency prevention distribution of nutritional supplements has started for 66,000 children in the local government area of Mashi. In the context of drastic cuts in international funding, the need for prevention and treatment of malnutrition is enormous in northern Nigeria, and urgent mobilization is required.

By the end of June 2025, nearly 70,000 malnourished children had already received medical care from our teams in Katsina State, including nearly 10,000 who were hospitalized in serious condition. Without taking into account the new healthcare facilities opened by MSF during the year in the state, this represents an increase of approximately one-third compared to last year. In addition, between January and June 2025, the number of malnourished children with nutritional oedema, the most severe and deadly form of malnutrition, rose by 208 percent compared with the same period in 2024. Unfortunately, 652 children have already died in our facilities since the nobeginning of 2025 due to a lack of timely access to care. A worrying sign of the growing severity of this major public health emergency, is that adults—particularly women, including pregnant and breastfeeding women—are also affected. A screening carried out in July in all five MSF malnutrition centers in Katsina State on 750 mothers of patients revealed that more than half of adult caregivers were acutely malnourished, including 13 percent with severe acute malnutrition.

To cope with the massive influx of children expected by the end of the lean season in October, MSF has increased its support to local authorities in several states in north Nigeria where we provide care to the population. In Katsina state for instance, we opened a new ambulatory therapeutic feeding center (AFTC) in Mashi and an additional inpatient therapeutic feeding center (ITFC) in Turai, to provide a total of 900 beds in two MSF-supported hospitals.

“The year 2024 marked a turning point in northern Nigeria’s nutritional crisis, with an increase of 25 percent from the previous year,” explains Ahmed Aldikhari, country representative of MSF in Nigeria. “But the true scale of the crisis exceeds all predictions. We are currently witnessing massive budget cuts, particularly from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, which are having a real impact on the treatment of malnourished children.”

Earlier this week, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it will be forced to suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in Northeast Nigeria by the end of July due to ‘critical funding shortfalls’.

“At the same time, we observe ever-increasing needs, such as in Katsina State, where an increasing number of people cannot afford to buy food anymore, even though it is available in markets,” added Aldikhari.

A food security survey carried out by humanitarian organizations in the local government area of Kaita, in Katsina state, before the lean season began at the start of 2025 revealed that over 90 percent of households had reduced the number of meals they ate each day.

Across the north, other factors worsening the malnutrition crisis include disease outbreaks worsened by low vaccine coverage, availability and accessibility of basic health services, and other socioeconomic indices complicated by insecurity and violence.

“The most urgent way to reduce the risk of immediate death from malnutrition is to ensure families have access to food,” says Emmanuel Berbain, nutrition referent at MSF. “This can be done through large-scale distribution of food or nutritional supplements, as we are currently doing in the Mashi area, or through cash distributions when and where it is possible.”

The capacity to care for and treat malnourished children must also be expanded, both by increasing the number of beds in health facilities and by providing funding and access to ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). These actions must be undertaken as a priority in areas where the needs – i.e. the number of malnourished children – are greatest.

People over the age of five, who are also increasingly affected by malnutrition but are currently not covered by any assistance, should also be included in prevention programs.

On July 8, His Excellency Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima publicly sounded the alarm on the scale of malnutrition in Nigeria, warning that it deprives almost 40 percent of children under the age of five of their full physical and cognitive potential. He described the situation as a national emergency requiring urgent and collective action.

MSF treated over 300,000 malnourished children in seven northern states in 2024, a 25 percent increase from 2023. In the Northwest alone, where MSF tackles malnutrition in the states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, and Zamfara, we have already treated almost 100,000 children suffering from severe and moderate acute malnutrition in outpatient treatment centres in the first six months of 2025 and hospitalized around 25,000 malnourished children

Malnutrition crisis in northern Nigeria: mobilization is urgently needed to avoid further deaths

Zulum tasks Borno LG chairmen on 70,000 minimum wage implementation

…Over bloated staff roll stalling minimum wage implementation – official

…NLC commends full implementation of minimum wage in primary schools

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has charged all the 27 Local Government Area (LGA) chairmen to ensure the swift and effective implementation of the new 70,000 Naira minimum wage.

During a high-level meeting held at the Government House, Saturday night, which was attended by the state leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Zulum directed the LGA chairpersons to come up with a workable solution for the minimum wage implementation.

“All local government chairpersons should go back to their localities, engage with relevant stakeholders and come up with a workable solution to the salary problem at the local government levels,” Zulum said.

He added, “I want to stress that the payment of 72,000 minimum wage has been fully implemented for state civil servants and all primary school teachers in Borno.”

Zulum also warned against retrenchment of staff at the local government level, stating that “We are not in support of staff retrenchment at the local government level as I direct you to institute a mechanism that will lead to the implementation of the minimum wage.”

He added, “I want to appeal to workers at the local government level to be patient. We are working closely with the 27 local governments to ensure the implementation of the minimum wage.”

…Over bloated staff roll stalling minimum wage payment – LG official

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Modu Alhaji Mustapha stressed that implementing the 70,000 minimum wage for local government staff has been stalled due to the over bloated number of employees.

According to the Permanent Secretary, Borno’s local government councils are grappling with an unusually high number of staff which is complicating the payroll and minimum wage administration.

He revealed that the state’s 27 LGAs collectively employ approximately 90,000 staff, a figure that is strikingly high compared to larger states like Kano, whose population is three times more than Borno’s but maintains a comparatively leaner staff structure of about 30,000 employees across its 44 LGAs.

“While the intention behind the minimum wage increase is laudable, the reality on ground in Borno is far more complex,” the LG official explained. “Our local governments are already over stretched and the current staff level has become an obstacle towards implementing the 70,000 minimum wage.”

“To put this into perspective, let us take Maiduguri Metropolitan Council for example, it’s monthly allocation from the federal government sometimes stood below N700m.”

“While this may seem substantial at a glance, the local government needs N778m to pay minimum wage.

This constitutes the entire monthly income of the LGA. When you consider that the MMC also has to fund other critical services such as public health, water supply, security, and other sectors, the financial strain becomes glaringly apparent.

…NLC commends full implementation of the new wage in primary schools

The Nigeria Labour Congress has commended Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, for his role in implementing the N72,000 minimum wage for primary school teachers in the state.

Chairman of the NLC, Borno State Chapter, Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, made the commendation during the high-level meeting held at the Government House on Saturday.

“Your Excellency, whenever we attend the national executive meetings, the national body is very much happy because primary school teachers are being paid 72,000 as minimum wage,” Comrade Inuwa said.

He also said, “Your Excellency, when I stood up during one of our meetings to announce that primary school teachers are being paid 72,000 in Borno State, I was applauded, and you were highly commended.”

Zulum tasks Borno LG chairmen on 70,000 minimum wage implementation

How Gombe can improve public health, tackle unemployment through faecal sludge management -Stakeholders

Some stakeholders from Gombe State have advocated for the adoption of faecal sludge management (FSM) to tackle public health issues as well as reduce unemployment amongst youths in the state.

They gave the advice in Gombe on Thursday during a one-day Media Dialogue on Accelerating FSM Strategy Adoption in Gombe State organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with Gombe State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA).

Declaring the meeting open, the Commissioner for Water, Environment, and Forest Resources, Mr Mohammed Fawu said many communities in the state rely on on-site sanitation systems such as pot latrines and septic tanks.

Fawu stated that while these systems provide basic sanitation, they pose serious public health and environmental risks when not properly managed.

He stressed that overflowing pits, indiscriminate disposal and ground water contamination were not more inconveniences, “they are threats to human dignity, water security and the health of our population.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the state government to developing a functional, inclusive, and sustainable FSM framework for the state.

In her remarks, the Chief of Field Office (CFO), UNICEF Bauchi Field Office (BFO), Dr Nuzhat Rafique stated that the aimed of the engagement was to sensitise media stakeholders in Gombe State towards pushing for the adoption of FSM in the state.

Rafique represented by Nanbam Michael, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Officer, UNICEF, Bauchi State Field Office said that the dialogue was part of efforts at accelerating the attainment of open defecation free in Gombe State.

She stated that UNICEF in partnership with the state’s RUWASSA had domesticated the “the Clean Nigeria, Use a toilet” campaign in Gombe State, aimed at pushing for an ODF Gombe State and in all its communities.

She said that it is possible to attain the ODF status in Gombe State just as Jigawa State had done and that UNICEF and its partners at the state level were mobilising people to use the toilet and improve toilet.

She said that UNICEF was already looking ahead to ensure that while people were being mobilised to use the toilets, “and the question why we are here is when this toilets are filled up, now what?

“Jigawa is now ODF and the major challenge there is where to offload the toilet that has been filled up? What can of FSM do we have?

“Now as a state, Gombe has an edge to start preparing for a well FSM before we get there; this is why we are sensitising the media to take up the story on FSM.”
She said that with the ongoing efforts at mobilising communities through the Community Led Total Sanitation approach, she expressed hope that by the end of 2025, there should be communities in the state claiming ODF.

While making his presentation, Prof. Wilson Danbature of the Department of Chemical Sciences, Gombe State University who was a facilitator at the dialogue urged the state government, stakeholders and investors to harness the value chain in FSM.

Danbature said that FSM if properly harnessed had the potential to create numerous jobs across the sanitation value chain, from desludging and treatment plant operations to resource recovery and reuse.

He said that with the growing population and campaign on against open defecation resulting in a large number of toilets relying on on-site sanitation systems, FSM was crucial for addressing public health and environmental concerns while also offering economic opportunities.

“With stakeholders coming in to establish faecal sludge treatment plant (FSTP), it would help improve public health, sanitation, boost revenue for the state and create employment for youths,” he said.

For Dr Abubakar Lumumba, the Sector Lead WASH RUWASSA said proper FSM was critical to addressing concerns on public health as well as improving sanitation.

Lumumba, however called for attitudinal change to address the menace of open defecation in the state, adding that not community in the state has been confirmed ODF.

For Khalid Umar, the Gombe State chairman, Public Convenience Maintenance, who runs a commercial public convenience said he had been making money from the business for the past three decades.

Umar said he rakes in between N7000 and N4000 on daily basis which had helped in cater for his family while also engaging youths to manage his facilities around Gombe Main market.

He urged stakeholders to invest in the business while calling for support to enable them manage the faecal sludge and desludge them properly.

How Gombe can improve public health, tackle unemployment through faecal sludge management -Stakeholders