Food Security Is Healthcare: Salako Hails First Lady’s Food Bank Drive At Abuja Health Summit
When nutrition fails, medicine struggles to keep up.
That simple truth framed the message in Abuja as the Federal Government linked food security directly to Nigeria’s public health outcomes.
At the National Traditional and Religious Leaders’ Summit on Health 2026 in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, praised First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu for championing food security as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He described her leadership as “motherly” and said her interventions through the Renewed Hope Initiative are reshaping public health by closing the nutrition gap.
Salako singled out the launch of the National Community Food Bank Programme at the summit, calling it a practical step towards achieving zero hunger and reducing preventable illness among vulnerable Nigerians.
He noted that good nutrition underpins preventive, curative and rehabilitative healthcare, adding that the programme would safeguard children’s cognitive and physical development while strengthening community accountability in delivering aid to those most in need.
The minister also underlined the strategic role of traditional and religious leaders in driving health outcomes, citing the 2024 polio response where community leaders helped resolve 65 per cent of vaccine refusals across 17 northern states.
In Adamawa and Kebbi, he said, resolution rates reached 92 per cent and 84 per cent respectively, contributing to the vaccination of over 851,000 under-five children in high-risk wards.
According to Salako, the summit aims to shift Nigeria’s health reforms from government-led initiatives to community-owned action by deepening leaders’ understanding of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), strengthening trust in routine immunisation, maternal health, screening services and nutrition, and formalising partnerships with community gatekeepers.
He urged participants to commit to practical action through plenary sessions, panel dialogues and the adoption of a summit communiqué, charging them to become champions of the NHSRII and partners in delivering President Tinubu’s vision of healthcare “as a matter of urgent right” for every Nigerian.
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