Supplements meant for malnourished children being diverted, sold in Sokoto – UNICEF

The United Nations Children Fund’s (UNICEF) on Wednesday deplored the alleged diversion of nutrition supplements in some communities in Sokoto State.

UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states, Micheal Juma, expressed concerns during the quarterly policymakers’ meeting on Wednesday in Sokoto.

Mr Juma urged community members and stakeholders in the healthcare sector to intensify vigilance against the diversion of prepared nutrition supplements in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that UNICEF organised the meeting in collaboration with the Sokoto State Government to discuss activities, successes, and challenges and offer solutions to lingering challenges.

Mr Juma, who was represented by Abraham Mahama, noted that the nutrition supplements were provided by donors and distributed to healthcare centres in different communities aimed at enhancing the lives of malnourished children.

He lamented that some bad elements in the system connived with traders and sold the supplements to unintended persons.

He stressed that the supplements were openly sold in markets. During an investigation at the designated stores, UNICEF discovered that personnel stocked cartons of supplements with stones and other objects to cover their nefarious acts, he said.

Mr Juma also urged the Sokoto government to join other states in appointing a Statistician General who would fastrack data collection, prudence, preservation and dissemination in line with modern trends.

He highlighted that most of the state’s key indicators, such as antenatal care, immunisation, mortality rates, healthcare-seeking behaviours, and social behavioural change, portrayed very poor performance.

According to him, indices on healthcare Infrastructure, power and water supply, competent healthcare workers, and client-untrusting service providers were not encouraging in the state.

In his presentation, the UNICEF Social Protection Specialist, Isa Ibrahim, dwelled on the state’s 2024 budget performance. He listed areas that need alignment, such as the nutrition sector with recorded zero allocation. He also mentioned areas that recorded high capital expenditure but had less impact on the citizens.

Mr Ibrahim also anchored Mr Juma’s call for the appointment of a substantive Statistician-General in the state to harness data prudence and accessibility using standard systems, stressing that the absence of a Statistician-General creates a vacuum and gap that needs to be abridged.

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He explained that the objectives of the quarterly meeting comprised sensitising stakeholders on activities, advocating increased inclusion of children on policies, prioritising joint partnerships, advocating optimum data usage and budget performance.

Earlier, the Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Idris Gobir, assured of the government’s maximum support to all donor agencies, describing the presentations as an awakening call to government officials to amend anomalies.

Balarabe Kadadi, the state commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, said UNICEF and other donor interventions were critical toward addressing the state’s challenges.

Mr Kadadi noted that collaborations remained key to improving service efficiency and ensured value for money on budget formulation and implementation.

(NAN)