Salisu! Salisu!! Salisu!!!
The chants precede his actual arrival. Women and children sing as Salisu Adamu, a UNICEF-supported mobiliser, and his colleagues go from house to house in the Mairi area of Damaturu, in North-East Nigeria’s Yobe State.
Providing mobile malnutrition screening services in Nigeria
As the only male among a team of 11 community mobilisers providing mobile malnutrition screening services in Mairi, Salisu naturally stands out among his colleagues.
‘I became a mobiliser 8 months ago and I am the only man in the team. However, I don’t feel embarrassed. I am helping my people. That’s the way I see it. Being a male mobiliser is like being a male nurse particularly in our local community. It has its advantages’, said Salisu.
’Unlike my female colleagues, I cannot enter a compound without permission. But I am also the natural choice when we need to engage with fathers, community leaders, elders and Bulamas (community heads). They listen to me because I am a man like them. I can enter a mosque, church or place of work to advocate that severely malnourished children be brought to health facilities for treatment’.
Tackling child malnutrition
Mairi, a densely populated expanse of land surrounding the Emir’s palace in Damaturu used to be known for child mortality.
‘4 or 5 years ago, a lot of children were dying from malnutrition-related complications because some people preferred not to go to hospital. They relied on herbal medicines and other concoctions whenever their children fell ill. It was more out of ignorance and distrust in conventional medicine’, said Salisu.
To reduce the incidence of child malnutrition and protect children from its debilitating impact, UNICEF, with European Union humanitarian funding, has been supporting communities across North-East Nigeria with the early identification and screening of children with severe acute malnutrition.
With both short and long-term impacts on the body and brain development of children, malnutrition has a deadly impact on children under 5 years. Children in North-East Nigeria are particularly affected by malnutrition, where protracted conflict has brought the local economy and livelihood opportunities to their knees.
‘Tackling the malnutrition crisis in North-East Nigeria is both a moral responsibility and strategic necessity. The European Union is one of the leading humanitarian donors, working to help undernourished children recover while strengthening local health systems to detect, treat, and prevent malnutrition’, said Alexandre Castellano, Head of EU Humanitarian Operations in Nigeria.
’It is crucial that we all prioritise and scale up efforts to fight malnutrition so that children can lead healthy lives, thrive, and their families can contribute to the development of their region’.
In 2025, more than 1 million children under 5 years in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition requiring lifesaving treatment, especially during the peak of the lean season from June to September 2025. This marks a 67 % increase compared to the period 2023-2024, revealing that children in North-East Nigeria are battling escalating levels of malnutrition.
An urgent and holistic response is needed to address this crisis
UNICEF-supported mobilisers like Salisu are critical in early identifying and referring children with severe acute malnutrition. With early identification and prompt access to treatment, malnourished children have a higher recovery rate.
The activities of mobilisers in communities like Mairi are helping to turn the tide on child malnutrition, providing an opening for children to survive the clutches of death. According to Salisu, more households are visiting health facilities to receive medical care for their children.
‘I have become famous with this job’, chuckled Salisu.
‘But my fulfilment comes from seeing children recover against all odds. I met a woman months ago with a very sickly and malnourished child. She had just arrived from Maiduguri. She refused to bring her son to the health facility, but I persisted. Honestly, even I did not believe that the child would survive. But the child did. This was a child who measured less than 10 centimeters on the mid-upper circumference tape. But like magic, he recovered. That is my greatest joy’, added Salisu.
