Stakeholders have urged governments across the North-East to prioritize Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and other Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions in their annual budgets.
They made the call on Thursday at the end of a three-day Regional Consultative Workshop on ECD held in Maiduguri.
The workshop brought together representatives from the six North-Eastern states to identify priority interventions to improve children’s well-being, learning, and development during their formative years.
Mr Abubakar Usman, a participant from Bauchi, called for the adoption of ECCE across the region as a comprehensive approach to the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of children from birth to age 8.
He said play-based learning and quality childcare could provide children with a strong foundation for lifelong health, wellbeing and learning.
Usman noted that the earliest stages of childhood, particularly the period from birth to 2 years, required focused attention to infant care, health, nutrition, and sensorimotor development.
He said pre-primary education for children aged three to five or six years served as a bridge between the home and formal education by introducing them to structured, play-based learning environments.
According to him, increased investment in ECCE would promote brain development, school readiness, language acquisition and social-emotional stability, while reducing inequality and contributing to stronger communities and economic growth.
Usman also urged state governments to prioritize the reduction of stunting in their annual budgets.
He warned that poor nutrition, repeated infections and inadequate care could hinder children’s physical growth and brain development.
He identified the first 1,000 days, from conception to a child’s second birthday, as a critical period for preventing the irreversible effects of stunting.
Among the major contributors to stunting, he listed poor maternal and child nutrition, inadequate breastfeeding and complementary feeding, food insecurity, repeated illnesses, poor sanitation and limited access to clean water.
The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Umar-Garbai, represented by the District Head of Maisandari, Alhaji Abba Bukar, said child upbringing remained a shared responsibility between parents and the wider community.
He pledged the continued support of traditional institutions for ECD initiatives and promised to mobilise other traditional leaders to support the programme and lead by example.
Dr Ahmed Abdulwahab of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said the consultation was designed to gather inputs from the six states on priority ECD interventions for possible inclusion in their 2027 budgets.
Abdulwahab said representatives from the Ministries of Budget, Health, Education, Women Affairs, Water Resources and Local Government, as well as the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), participated in the consultation.
He said the workshop promoted a multi-sectoral approach because “the child is one,” requiring coordinated interventions in nutrition, healthcare, education, protection and other areas.
According to him, the NGF Secretariat would support relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies in addressing implementation challenges and provide state governors with information to support effective decision-making.
Dr Zainab Idris, Lead Facilitator and National President of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, described the consultation as engaging and productive.
She, however, stressed the need for stronger coordination among sectors to ensure that children across the North-East receive the support required during their critical early years.
SOURCE:NAN
