DIPLOMAN TIMES

Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has joined a high-level Federal Government delegation led by Vice President Kashim Shettima on a three-day leadership exchange and learning visit to Ethiopia focused on accelerating subnational action on nutrition. The October 6, 2026 departure places Zamfara within a federal-state policy engagement examining Ethiopia's Seqota Declaration, a long-term national framework recognised for translating political commitment into coordinated, financed and accountable nutrition delivery at decentralised levels.

The Zamfara State government publication reported that Governor Dauda Lawal departed Nigeria on October 6, 2026, as part of a three-day Federal Government delegation travelling to Ethiopia for a leadership exchange and learning visit. The delegation is led by Vice President Kashim Shettima and includes Governors AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, Alex Otti of Abia, Bassey Otu of Cross River, Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno, Ademola Adeleke of Osun and Umar Namadi of Jigawa. The composition brings together federal leadership and governors from multiple states around a policy-learning exercise with a specific nutrition focus.

The visit builds on commitments made by the Federal Government during the launch of the Nutrition 774 Initiative, identified in the state government publication as having taken place at the 148th National Economic Council meeting. The wider policy objective is to accelerate subnational action on nutrition. Governor Lawal's participation therefore connects Zamfara State to a national effort to translate nutrition policy commitments into practical interventions at state and local levels. The source frames the Ethiopia visit as an exchange and learning exercise rather than as the announcement of a completed nutrition programme or a new state-level intervention.

Ethiopia's Seqota Declaration is being used as a comparative model for the delegation's learning visit. The framework is recognised for its approach to translating national political commitment into coordinated, financed and accountable nutrition delivery through decentralised implementation structures. The declaration was announced by the Ethiopian government in 2015 with a commitment to ending stunting among children under two by 2030. Its inclusion in the exchange gives the visit a specific policy-learning objective centred on how political commitment can be converted into multisectoral delivery and measurable nutrition outcomes.

The Seqota Declaration operates through a multisectoral framework involving nine government ministries, including Health; Agriculture; Education; Water, Irrigation and Energy; Women, Children and Youth; Transport; Finance; MOLSA; and Culture and Tourism. Its roadmap spans 15 years and is divided into three phases identified as Innovation, Expansion and Scale-Up. These elements provide the comparative policy architecture being examined during the Ethiopian visit. The Zamfara State government publication does not state which specific aspects Governor Lawal intends to adopt in Zamfara or whether a state-specific implementation plan has already been agreed as a result of the visit.

As of October 7, 2026, Governor Dauda Lawal is participating in the reported three-day Ethiopia leadership exchange as part of the Federal Government delegation led by Vice President Shettima. The confirmed purpose is policy learning around nutrition and the decentralised delivery model associated with Ethiopia's Seqota Declaration, building on the Federal Government's Nutrition 774 Initiative. The visit remains an ongoing exchange activity, and the state government publication does not record a completed new Zamfara nutrition programme arising from the delegation's participation.