The ‘Grandfather of Nutrition in Nigeria’, Professor Babatunde Oguntona, is widely acknowledged for his contributions to the fortunes of nutrition in the country. A nutritionist by profession, Oguntona was a founding member of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Maiduguri, and the first professor appointed by FUNAAB, where he was a founding member of the institution’s Nutrition programme.
In this Vanguard newspaper interview with James Ogunnaike, Oguntona calls for creation of a Ministry of Food and Nutrition, as part of measures to tackle the hydra-headed problem of malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies in Nigeria. He speaks about other salient issues on nutrition.
Excerpts:
Legacies in nutrition
You cannot decide your own legacies. You leave it to posterity to decide for you. When it comes to accomplishments, there are several activities in which I am happy to be a team member. I was in the University of Maiduguri in Borno State before coming to the University of Agriculture (now Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta). I was surrounded by really friendly individuals at the University of Maiduguri, and my family and I truly liked our stay there. I am especially proud of the fact that I was also a founding member of the Nutrition programme at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, now FUNAAB, because we faced many challenges and obstacles in the beginning. Nobody thought there should be a Nutrition department since some thought it should be Home Economics or Cooking.
Nutrition is now taught at approximately 10 universities.
The second step is to create a long-term and successful policy framework. I’m not convinced we’re doing well in this area. The country’s policy framework is inconsistent.
Advocacy is the third. Nigeria is also not performing well in this area for a variety of reasons, one of which is that we are not taking ownership of data. To my mind, the country has done well in terms of training, however, this is insufficient.
Message to the new Minister of Health
My radical view on this is that Nutrition should not be exclusive to the Ministry of Health. I say that with all sense of responsibility, because the Minister of Health has a lot to do from disease prevention, to disease control and so on.
Therefore, there is a need for the Ministry of Food and Nutrition, to be manned by a Nutritionist. A Minister in the Ministry of Food and Nutrition will now squarely address the issue of malnutrition, because Nutrition has a lot of components, which include health, economic, agricultural and social.
The Minister of Health is a key medical personnel, yet nutrition is not taught in medical school. All of this is too much for the Minister of Health. Though several ministries have been established, none are as vital as the Ministry of Food and Nutrition.
