By Abdulgafar Oladimeji.

Muslim clergymen have disclosed their resolve to intensify the fight against malnutrition through advocacy at places of Islamic worship in all the 44 local governments in Kano state.

The clerics made the disclosure at the end of a two days workshop held in Kano with the theme “Sensitization of Religious Leaders On 2020 World Breastfeeding Week” organized by Kano state ministry of health and Primary Health Care Management Board” in collaboration with UNICEF, CS-SUNN, Alive and Thrive, USAID and Breakthrough Action.

The secretary, Kano state Association of  Muslim Clerics, Ibrahim Habib noted that the training has equipped the clerics with information on new areas relating to nutritional values, adding that also the clerics now better the messages that can propagate to aid the quest to tackles the danger been portrayed by the unwarranted cases of malnutrition been recorded in the state.

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The Chief Imam, Tsanyawa local government, Mahmud Mawuyya in a chat with our correspondent said: “ We have learnt a lot from the training on breastfeeding and nutrition, , we will now go back and educate our wives, our children, relatives and friends, we will also now inculcate the issue of  nutrition in our sermons to believers.”

The director family health, Kano state Primary Health care Management Board, Dr Aminu Sudawa lamented that nutrition statistic in the state is low.

Sudawa noted that the decision to sensitize the clerics is aimed at improving the worrisome nutritional status of families in Kano, stressing that it is anticipated that the clerics would proceed to sensitize their adherent followers on how to help to improve the situation, Sudawa said.

The State Nutrition officer, SNO, Kano state ministry of health, Halima Musa Yakasai appealed to religious leaders to step up the campaign on nutrition across the state, “ she said, “ as our spiritual leaders, we appeal that you should advocate more on nutrition, help us take the message to our mosques, we need your support on this.”

The Nutrition Officer, United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, Kano Field Office, Abigail Nyam decry the havoc been invoked by malnutrition on women and children specifically in Northern Nigeria.

Abigail argued that Northern Nigeria has foodstuffs that contain ingredients that are rich in protein and carbohydrate, explaining that there is no need for the threat been posed by malnutrition, if families consume these items, adding that it would boost nutrition in children and pregnant mothers, Abigail lamented that majority of families usually opt to sell the locally cultivated food items in open markets opting to remain malnourished.

Abigail appealed to families to adopt a dietary diversification attitude by ensuring pregnant mothers and children that are within their first 1000 days consume locally available foods such as maize, soya beans, yam, moringa, milk, meat millet, sorghum, and clean water to immunize them from getting malnourished.

According to her, Muslim cleric should continually   sensitize their flocks on the importance and proper method of exclusive and  complementary breastfeeding,

Also, the national Vice President(North)Nutrition Society of Nigeria, NSN, Dr  Salisu Maiwada enjoined the religious leader to always emphasize and advocate to their followers on what are the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.

The secretary, Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUNN, Kano state chapter, Ahmad Tijjani Yau applaud Kano state government for the collaboration and support given to other stakeholders to stage the 2020 edition of the World Breastfeeding Week, urging stakeholders not to relent in the ceaseless calls for an increase of investments in nutrition at all levels.