…Abbas say proposed council should strengthen professional standards, improve preventive healthcare
By Gloria Ikibah 
The House of Representatives has commenced moves to regulate nutrition practice in Nigeria, with lawmakers and stakeholders meeting on Tuesday to consider a bill seeking to establish the Nutritionists Registration Council of Nigeria.
The proposed legislation is aimed at strengthening professional standards, improving access to qualified nutritionists and helping Nigerians make informed dietary choices.
Declaring the public hearing open, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, who was represented by the House Majority Leader, Abdullahi Ibrahim, said the establishment of a Standing Committee on Nutrition and Food Security reflected the importance of nutrition to education, healthcare costs and national development.
He urged stakeholders to contribute constructively to the process to ensure that the proposed law provides an effective regulatory framework and improves the quality of nutrition services available to the public.
He said: “I urge all stakeholders to approach this hearing with candour, technical rigour and a shared commitment to national interest. Parliament must legislate with ambition, but also with prudence. A sound law must address a demonstratable need, establish workable institutions and provide a credible pathway from legislative intent to effective implementation.
“Utimately, the measure of this bill will not be the creation of another institution but whether it strengthens professional competence, protects Nigerians from harmful or misleading advice and improves the quality of nutrition services available to the public. By getting the regulatory framework right, we can strengthen preventive healthcare , reduce avoidable health burdens and contribute to the development of a healthier and more productive population”.
Abbas commended the House Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, chaired by Rep. Chike Okafor, and other stakeholders, including the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, for their role in advancing the proposed legislation.
Earlier, Rep. Okafor explained that public hearings provided an opportunity to gather feedback, evidence and opinions from citizens, experts and stakeholders before a proposed law was finalised.
He assured participants that the committee will consider submissions objectively, whether they supported or opposed the bill, before making recommendations to the House for further legislative action.
“As a committee, we have no bias or already decided opinion, but we will collate all opinions canvased by you today either for or against before making our recommendation to the general house in plenary for consideration.
“I therefore plead with each speaker to see his or her role today as a contribution to law making and national development.
“We aim for good laws having known the consequences of bad ones”, he said.
The committee chairman said the Speaker’s presence at the hearing underscored the importance the leadership of the 10th House attached to the proposed legislation and the public hearing process.
“The presence of the Honourable Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen Ph.D. GCON to declare this hearing open reiterates the importance the leadership attaches to this public hearing and its importance in the process of law-making.
“Mr. Speaker can aptly be described as the “man who saw tomorrow” with the establishment of Committee on Nutrition and Food Security for the first time in the history of the National Assembly and Parliament and encouraging the establishment of same in the sub regional houses of Assembly”, he added.
The public hearing is expected to provide lawmakers with stakeholder perspectives to guide further consideration of the bill.
If enacted, the proposed law would establish a regulatory framework for nutritionists, with the stated aim of improving professional competence, protecting the public from harmful or misleading nutritional advice and supporting a healthier population.
