The Adamawa Government has inaugurated a Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Strategy for Child Nutrition to commemorate the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week.

The wife of the governor, Lami Fintiri, inaugurated the strategy on Wednesday in Yola as part of activities marking the global event.

The 2026 theme is: “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works.

Fintiri said the strategy would provide a practical roadmap for promoting positive healthcare and nutrition practices across the state.

She described exclusive breastfeeding as the simplest, most effective and affordable way of providing infants with adequate nutrition.

“Every child deserves the best start in life through exclusive breastfeeding and proper nutrition.

“Breastfeeding protects babies against illnesses, while helping mothers recover faster after childbirth and reducing postpartum bleeding” she said.

She reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to improving maternal, newborn and child health through sustained investments in primary healthcare and nutrition programmes.

She said the government was creating an enabling environment for mothers and children to survive and thrive.

Fintiri also commended UNICEF and other development partners for supporting healthcare service delivery in Adamawa.

Executive Chairman, Adamawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Sulaiman Bashir, said the agency was promoting exclusive breastfeeding and tackling misconceptions surrounding the practice.

Bashir said the agency had intensified public awareness campaigns on the benefits of breastfeeding for child survival and healthy development.

A beneficiary, Augustina Sunday, said exclusive breastfeeding also reduced mothers’ risk of breast cancer and other childbirth-related health complications.

Healthcare kits were presented to breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women during the event.

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding with complementary foods up to two years or beyond.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said Nigeria is targeting full coverage of all citizens with a multi-hazard early warning system by 2027, through the “Early Warnings for All” (EW4All) initiative.

Director-General (D-G) of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, during a coordination meeting ahead of the official launch of EW4All in Nigeria.

EW4All is a global initiative that aims to ensure that every human on Earth is protected from hazardous weather, water, and climate events by life-saving early warning systems by 2027.

The meeting brought together Chief Executive Officers of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Umar said the meeting was convened to align roles for Nigeria’s multi-hazard early warning system, strengthen Nigeria’s disaster risk management architecture and ensure seamless inter-agency collaboration.

She noted that Nigeria continues to face increasing risks from floods, droughts, windstorms, heat stress and disease outbreaks.

“In 2025 alone, over 1.2 million people were affected by floods in Nigeria.

“The Secretary General of the UN has called EW4All a ‘survival agenda for humanity’ and for Nigeria, it is also a national security and development agenda.

“We therefore gather today to agree on a common pathway towards a successful national launch, and more importantly, to ensure that in Nigeria, every person is covered by an early warning system by year 2027,” Umar said.

She explained that the initiative has four pillars with clear institutional leads.

She said that NEMA and NASRDA would lead on Disaster Risk Knowledge pillar, NiMet and NIHSA would lead Detection and Forecasting, while NCC would lead Warning Dissemination.

Umar added that NEMA would also coordinate the Preparedness and Response pillar.

She said that the meeting was also organised to resuscitate quarterly coordination meetings among the agencies to review hazards, assess preparedness and resolve operational challenges early.

She said the collaboration aligns with the Sendai Framework, SDGs, Paris Agreement and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, urging the agencies to approach the deliberations with openness.

“NEMA is ready to coordinate but will only succeed if we move as one,” she said.

In his remarks, Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Aminu Maida, commended NEMA for bringing the agencies together.

Maida said early warning systems were critical to protecting citizens from unplanned disasters, adding that joint action would deliver results with fewer resources.

On his part, Director-General of NASRDA, Matthew Adepoju, said the agency would provide technical support through data and space technology.

Adepoju noted that NASRDA’s mandate includes disaster management, promising that the agency would support the fulfilment of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Also speaking, the D-G of NIHSA, Alhaji Umar Mohammed, described early warning as “national corps for preparedness”.

Mohammed said the goal is to prepare before disasters occur and reduce impact to the barest minimum.

Regional Representative of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Muliro Mashauri, described the platform as “unique” in West Africa.

Mashauri noted that bringing regulators like NCC into disaster planning was important and urged the agencies to harmonise warnings into “one bulletin” to avoid confusion.

He added that Nigeria has the capacity to meet and exceed the 2027 target, citing Nigeria’s satellite support during the Katrina event as evidence of existing capacity.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has approved the appointment of Dr. Nonny Patricia Ugboma as its Executive Director, Policy and Programmes & Chief Summit Officer.

In a statement by Dr Tayo Aduloju NESG CEO on Wednesday, her appointment took effect on Monday, August 3, 2026, following the approval of the Board of Directors.

The appointment reflects the NESG’s continued commitment to strengthening its executive leadership with accomplished professionals whose expertise and experience will support the Group’s mission of promoting sustainable economic development, inclusive growth, and private sector-led transformation in Nigeria.

In her dual executive role, Dr Ugboma will provide strategic leadership for the NESG’s policy programming, public-private dialogue, Policy Commissions and Platforms, major programmes, strategic convenings, and the Nigerian Economic Summit. She will also oversee stakeholder engagement, programme and partnership development, and the monitoring and implementation of summit and policy recommendations to strengthen the Group’s dialogue-to-execution agenda.

Dr Ugboma is a corporate leader, public-value strategist, board director, and scholar-practitioner with more than 25 years of professional experience spanning finance, telecommunications, corporate social investment, institutional development, energy, innovation policy, and sustainable development.

Before joining the NESG, Dr Ugboma built an accomplished career across finance, strategy, telecommunications, and corporate social investment. She joined MTN Nigeria in 2003 as a Business Planner and Financial Analyst before serving as Executive Secretary of the MTN Nigeria Foundation from January 2009 to March 2021.

During her tenure, she led large-scale social investments in education, healthcare, youth and economic empowerment, and arts and culture, working with governments, communities, educational institutions, healthcare organisations, private-sector partners, and other stakeholders to deliver impactful programmes across approximately 850 project locations nationwide.

Dr Ugboma’s career has been distinguished by her ability to lead complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives that deliver measurable social and institutional impact. Her experience spans programme strategy, partnership development, institutional strengthening, innovation policy, and sustainable development, with a strong focus on translating strategy into implementation and creating long-term public value.

She holds a PhD in Innovation and Public Policy from the University College London Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, where her doctoral research explored the role of public sector dynamic capabilities in implementing reforms, coordinating complex stakeholder ecosystems, and creating sustainable public value. She also holds a Master of Public Administration, completed with Distinction, from University College London; an MSc in International Management from King’s College London; and a BSc (Hons) in Accounting and Financial Analysis from the University of Warwick.

As Executive Director, Policy and Programmes & Chief Summit Officer, Dr Ugboma will lead the NESG’s efforts to strengthen policy coherence, deepen public-private dialogue, enhance programme delivery, and reinforce the implementation of summit outcomes. Her appointment brings together the strategic discipline of a finance and corporate executive, the delivery experience of a national programme leader, and the intellectual grounding of a public policy scholar, positioning the NESG to further strengthen its role as Nigeria’s leading policy think tank and a trusted platform for driving evidence-based reforms.

The NESG is confident that Dr Ugboma’s wealth of leadership experience, strategic insight, and commitment to institutional excellence will further strengthen the Group’s policy, programme, and summit delivery capabilities while advancing its mission of shaping reforms that promote investment, competitiveness, productivity, and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.