Tending To The Hunger Issue In Nigeria

As an approach to tending to the rising hunger crisis in the nation, President Bola Tinubu as of late directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release 42,000 metric tonnes of maize, millet, and other grains in its essential hold. The grains, as per the Minister, Abubakar Kyari, will be delivered to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). “They know precisely where it is needed; and they have a strategy on how they transport and store before it is distributed to those in need.” Yet nearly one month after the directive, which in itself rakes up several questions, vulnerable Nigerians are still hanging tight for a fulfilment of the promise. In the meantime, the impact on recent policy decisions has left Nigerians staggering from soaring prices of basic foodstuffs with hunger now a common staple in many homes.

While available reports show that a portion of the storehouses do have reserves of grains, there are two critical issues. One, available grains are grossly inadequate to take care of the ongoing crisis in the nation. Two, the grains in storehouses are not sacked. Thus, they need to pack them before sharing. There are videos of sacking on social media. Basically, the act of making announcements without simple due diligence about important realities is fit as a fiddle. What does it take to initially affirm what’s available in the government storehouses, track down other hotspots for augmentation and make satisfactory preparation for release and distribution before opening up to the world?

Last week, a great number of workers, traders, rights activists, and students marched through the streets of major urban areas across the nation, protesting the high cost of food, medicine, cooking gas, and essential commodities. In spite of the fact that it was by and large serene, the federal government must work to guarantee there are no future protests. Not with threats but with substantial activities to improve the current happenings. Driving down the prices of a few staple foods ought to be a significant need of the government now.

Certainly, hunger has been an overwhelming challenge in Nigeria for a really long time. The Boko Haram insurrection has not only prompted the passing of thousands of Nigerians but in addition caused widespread displacement of millions of people from their communities and homesteads. The situation is intensified by the ceaseless conflict between farmers and herders in the Northcentral states seen as the nation’s food belt. All these in addition to the Russia-Ukraine War, the recent mass flooding in the nation, a feeble currency which is on a free fall and inflationary crisis that is draining incomes and savings fueling the torment and misery that has overwhelmed the nation.

For sure, the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) has cautioned more than once that millions of Nigerians are at the risk of hunger as prices of foodstuff skyrocket. As of December 2023, a World Bank report showed that Nigeria’s destitution level had taken a bit higher. Recent data gathered by a global e-commerce organization additionally uncovered that the average Nigerian household spends about 60 per cent of its pay on food, the highest on the planet. Conversely, residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore spend less than 10 per cent of pay on food.

With furious citizens communicating their displeasure about the everyday hike of staple foods, transportation costs, school fees, house rent and other expenses that are becoming difficult to fund, the federal government and authorities in the 36 states of the federation must awaken to the truth.