Vice President Kashim Shettima has launched ‘Grand Challenges Nigeria’ (GCNg), a national innovation programme aimed at revolutionising Nigeria’s healthcare landscape through locally-developed solutions.

The initiative, part of the global Grand Challenges network, would focus on maternal and child health challenges in the first phase.

Speaking yesterday when he launched the GCNg at the Presidential Villa, Shettima told the audience that the initiative became necessary following an urgency occasioned by the rapid pace at which the world “is evolving in the realms of science and technology.”

He stressed the importance of contextualizing solutions to national challenges, citing this as “a cardinal message” of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, just as he said the initiative would promote ground-breaking research and build local expertise, among others.

“This initiative is more than a response to prob – lems; it is an avenue to promote ground-breaking research, build local expertise, form strategic partnerships, and engage communities in co-creating culturally relevant solutions,” Shettima said.