In view of the prevailing crisis in various parts of the country, for the umpteenth time, a UN agency is giving out strong alert about acute hunger in the country except something is done. SUNNY IDACHABA reports.
If nothing is done either by the government, spirited individuals and the international communities, not fewer than millions of Nigerians in at least 26 states of the country would be in dire need of food security in the next one year.
This is the view expressed by the United Nation Food Programmeas as contained in a statement released in Abuja by the WFP head of Communications, Advocacy and Marketing in Nigeria, Chi Lael.alert
The alert
Part of the statement reads that, “WFP is gravely concerned that years of armed conflict in North-east Nigeria is driving hunger and malnutrition, with millions in need of life-saving assistance and facing the risk of famine.”
It noted in particular that one out of eight Nigerians representing 24.8 million people would most likely face acute hunger before the end of this year and beyond if there are no deliberate, concerted effort to drive the scourge overboard.
Listing the states likely to be affected, WFP says it projected that Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states in particular would witness severe hunger during the peak of the lean season between June and August 2023, with 4.3 million people being affected, and almost 600,000 on the brink of catastrophe.
The situation, he said, is expected to result in emergency levels of food insecurity, with alarmingly high rates of acute malnutrition and mortality, unless there is a consistent increase in humanitarian assistance.
Lael therefore disclosed that the agency, to address the urgent needs of those affected by conflict and in dire need of humanitarian aid in the North-east, was ramping up efforts to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to 2.1 million people.
WFP lamented that the ongoing conflict had affected the nutrition status of children on several fronts and projecting that two million children in the North-east region would suffer from acute malnutrition.
“With more than 4.3 million people also in need of food assistance in North-west Nigeria, resources for the North-east have been increasingly squeezed.
“A total of 24.8 million people, or one out of 8 individuals, are experiencing acute hunger this year in Nigeria’s 26 states and the capital, Abuja. The more people in need of urgent food assistance who go unassisted, the greater the risk of starvation and death among the most vulnerable, and the more people will be forced to resort to coping mechanisms such as survival sex, selling possessions and child labour.
“A lack of assistance also increases the risk of youth recruitment into armed groups, as well as displaced populations returning to inaccessible areas where they are beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance and other social services.”
Why the alert is serious
Of serious concern is this alarm as the country especially the North-east and North-west parts are enmeshed in crisis resulting from insurgency and banditry. It could also be recalled that states like Benue, Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa, Plateau and parts of Southern Kaduna have not known peace in the last eight years because of the activities of kidnappers and killer herdsmen and farmers conflicts. Of more concern is the fact that the bulk of the food needs of the country comes from that geographical belt.
That is why one has no choice but to agree with WFP that chronic insecurity was preventing many people in the North-east and other parts of the country from growing the needed food or earning any income.
WFP noted in its alarming report that in the last year or thereabout, the conflicts in various parts of the country had so far left thousand households insituations that made it impossible for them to leave their homes due to the increase in movement restrictions, killings, and abduction of civilians, particularly in Borno and Yobe states where the violence was concentrated until lately when it spread to states like Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and many unreported incidents in states like Jigawa, Kebbi and Kano states.
Investigation therefore shows that thousands of people were said to be left with only one month’s food supply as households in conflict-affected areas rely on minimum income to purchase food.
Speaking further Lael said, “The hunger crisis worsens an already bad situation for many families struggling with economic hardship, surging inflation, impacts of Russia-Ukraine war, the currency redesign policy, slow post-COVID-19 recovery, and unprecedented floods in 2022 which limited agricultural production and overall food availability,” the agency said.
As a result of all these, WFP said it requires the sum of $190 million over the next six months to provide life-saving food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable people.
Crisis everywhere
Although the WFP report did not specify the names of states apart from Borno and Yobs in its report, but investigation by Blueprint reveals that apart from Lagos in the South-west, all other states in that region are under the throes of hunger. This is because of the activities of bandits and kidnappers that have made life a nightmare for residents. Of late, residents of Ondo state especially Ikare have not known peace due to kidnapping for ransom. This has also affected farm inputs.
A resident of the area, Akindele Santa while lamenting about the situation described it as going out of control. “It’s difficult to step out of the house and go into the farm now because one is not sure of returning alive. Kidnappers have taken permanent shelters on the farms by lurking around people’s farms in wait for anyone visiting his farm in order to kidnap. This has lasted for too long and it is time it was curbed otherwise famine looms like a plague,” he said.
It is the same story in Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun and Osun states in the recent times.
In the South-east part of the country, due to the activities of unknown gun men and the outlawed Independent People of Viagra (IPOB), a number of persons have been sent to their early graves after ignoring the compulsory sit-at-home order by the group. To that extent too, it has been pretty difficult to engage in any meaningful economic activities within the region in the last one year.
According to an Onitsha-based trader Oscar Arinze, “The economy of the South-east was on a standstill the greater part of 2022 because of the sit-at-home order. Anambra and Ebonyi states are yet to recover from the order. Businesses were affected and farmers regretted the order while many are yet to recover,” he said.
