The Federal Government has distributed three million bottles of multiple micronutrient supplements to pregnant women across the country and expanded nutrition treatment services in high-burden states, the outgoing Director of the Nutrition Department in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Mrs Ladidi Aiyegbusi, said as she bowed out of office.
Aiyegbusi, who delivered a valedictory address at the official handover ceremony in Abuja, said the gains recorded by the department since she assumed office in August 2023 were the result of collective effort, stressing that “the achievement that we have been able to make in the field of nutrition was not done by just myself alone. It is our achievement because it is a collective effort.”
She recalled that when she took over leadership of the then Nutrition Division under the Family Health Department, “we were just about 37 officers in the division, as against 96 that is being required for the department to function optimally,” and faced gaps in data, commodities management and policy frameworks.
By November 24, 2023, she said, the division was upgraded to a full-fledged department, with an expanded mandate and mounting challenges. “Two of our very essential nutrition commodities, the multiple micronutrient supplements and the small quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements, had not been enlisted into the national essential medicine list,” she noted, adding that nutrition commodities were also not onboard onto the Nigerian Health Logistics Management Information System at the time.
According to her, the lack of integrated data meant that “if we needed information on how many nutrition commodities were consumed… we had to be reaching out to partners.”
Aiyegbusi said the department prioritised improving maternal nutrition, particularly anaemia in pregnancy. “In order to improve pregnancy care and ensure that the status of pregnant women that have anaemia is reduced, the government collaborated with partners and got donations of multiple micronutrient supplements,” she said.
“In 2024, we got three million bottles of multiple micronutrient supplements brought into the country, and we distributed this MMS to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory based on the burden of anaemia,” she explained, adding that another three million bottles were distributed in 2025.
She disclosed that “in 2024 alone, we had given over 2.3 million pregnant women a bottle of MMS each,” explaining that each bottle contains 180 tablets, taken daily, with “15 essential micronutrients that will make the pregnant woman live healthy and the baby in her womb also develop healthy.”
On breastfeeding, the outgoing director said the department deployed aggressive advocacy and media campaigns. “In 2024, when we marked World Breastfeeding Week from 1st to 7th of August, we had over 31 million women breastfeeding simultaneously for one minute across the 36 states and the FCT,” she said. “That was a world record that we have broken.”
She added that Nigeria had also become “the first country globally to introduce multiple micronutrient supplements into preventing anaemia in pregnant women using a well-structured policy approach,” with the development of a national roadmap, landscape analysis in 18 states, and training manuals for health workers.
“We trained over 120 national master trainers on MMS, and as we speak, 12 states have conducted state-level training, while in five of those states, over 300 frontline health workers have been trained,” Aiyegbusi said.
On data reforms, she said all nutrition commodities had now been integrated into the national logistics management platform. “If you want to know the quantity of any nutrition commodity that came into Nigeria, you don’t need to go to partners anymore. You come to us in the Federal Ministry of Health and we give you the statistics,” she said, noting that over 300 health workers had been trained on data input and use.
Addressing the persistent burden of malnutrition, Aiyegbusi acknowledged that the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey figures remained troubling. “Forty per cent of children under five are stunted,” she said, adding that government had responded by establishing “an additional 362 treatment sites in 13 high-burden states” to improve access to care for severely malnourished children.
She said community volunteers were now being trained to identify malnourished children early, while the Nutrition 774 initiative driven by the Office of the Vice President was taking nutrition interventions “to the people at the grassroots,” integrating efforts across sectors.
“Tackling issues of malnutrition is not a health affair alone; it is multisectoral,” she said, calling on the media to join in monitoring interventions. “Where we are doing well, let us know, and where we are not doing well, also let us know.”
Beyond clinical interventions, Aiyegbusi said the department was promoting healthy diets through traditional and religious institutions, standardising the production of nutrient-dense local foods such as “Tom Brown,” and planning community nutrition centres to improve knowledge on food combinations and preparation.
She also announced the development and launch of multiple policy documents, including a national social and behavioural change strategy across the life cycle, an advocacy framework, a scaling-up nutrition strategy, and a nutrition-in-emergencies framework. “When there is an emergency, nutrition must be on the front burner,” she said.
Reflecting on her tenure, Aiyegbusi said leaving office was emotional. “This department has been more than just a place of work to me. It has been family, a purpose, and a journey that has shaped me deeply,” she said, thanking staff for their dedication despite limited resources and high pressure.
“As I step aside, I do so with confidence in the future of this department,” she added. “Though I am leaving this role, I am not leaving the mission. Nutrition will always be a special place in my heart.”
In her acceptance speech, the incoming Director of the Nutrition Department, Mrs Olufunmilola Adegbite, expressed gratitude to the ministry’s leadership and described her appointment as unexpected. “It came to me as a surprise. When it came, I received it with joy,” she said.
Adegbite, an epidemiologist with over three decades of experience in public health, said she was eager to bring her experience in managing epidemics and outbreaks into the nutrition space. “I want to thank God for the privilege to move to another space to learn and to impart the little knowledge I have gathered,” she said.
She paid glowing tribute to her predecessor, describing Aiyegbusi as “my sister, my friend, my madam, my boss,” and commending her for laying a solid foundation. “To be the pioneer director and head of that department is not easy. The foundation has been solidly built. It is now ours to build upon that foundation,” Adegbite said.
Formally acknowledging receipt of the handover notes dated December 25, Adegbite said the document would serve “as a tool for continuity, for quality, and for direction during this transition period.” She pledged to work closely with staff and partners to deliver “an excellent and distinctive operation and performance” in the department.
“I look forward to seamless support from all my colleagues in the nutrition department and other departments in the ministry,” she said.
