Gov Otti Joins VP Shettima in Ethiopia for Nutrition Forum

Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, accompanied Vice-President Kashim Shettima as he led the Nigerian team to the first Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum, also known as the Pearl Exchange Forum. This event took place in Addis Ababa from 7 October to 9 October.

Ferdinand Ekeoma, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Otti, shared this information in a statement released on 10 October in Umuahia, Abia State.

The aim of the trip was for the Nigerian government to learn from Ethiopia about nutrition delivery. They focused on Ethiopia’s Seqota Declaration, which commits to ending stunting in children under two years old by 2030. This is meant to support Nigeria’s Nutrition 774 (N774) Initiative approved at the 148th National Economic Council meeting.

The delegation left Abuja on 6 October and was welcomed by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU, Nasir Aminu, along with senior officials from Ethiopia.

During the visit, the Shettima-led team held a meeting with Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister Temesgen Tiruneh. They discussed how to strengthen the partnership between Nigeria and Ethiopia in areas like agriculture, trade, food security, and aviation.

At the forum, important activities included policy sessions aimed at creating a federal-state-local agreement on nutrition. The Nigerian team also visited various sites to see nutrition efforts in action.

They toured a wheat farm and a banana plantation in the Oromia Region. They also checked out the Bounty of the Basket Training Centre, visited households in Mojo town, and went to Jabdu Motors in Bishoftu.