The United Nations (UN) has urged the federal government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to allocate a dedicated budget to address food insecurity.
This call was made by Dr. Hameed Nuru, the UN Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Africa Union Global Office, in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, on Wednesday.
He spoke as the Guest Speaker at the inaugural annual lecture of the University of Ilorin’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, themed: “Navigating Nexus of Food Security, Safety, and Diseases: A Holistic Sustainable Future and Economic Prosperity.”
The event honored Professor Saka Nuru, a former deputy vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University and the first professor from the Ilorin Emirate.
Dr. Nuru noted that UN statistics indicate Nigerians spend over 65% of their income on food, compared to the globally acceptable rate of 5-6%, which he described as “unacceptable.” He emphasized that Nigeria’s future is uncertain without food security, stating that it is food security, not natural resources like oil, gold, or diamonds, that is crucial for the country’s future and is directly linked to national security.
“In Nigeria, you see budget for health, education and infrastructure among others but not on food security. It’s is only spread between budgets of other ministries. We need a dedicated budget for food security because time has come for it. Nigeria is a hotspot on food insecurity among other nations.
“We have about 36 active conflicts in Africa with some more that 30 years old. This is the single most important challenge to food insecurity in Nigeria and other affected countries”, he said.
Dr Nuru said Nigeria is predicted to have one million malnourished children from August this year due to conflicts, insecurity, and climate change, especially, in the North East, replica of the situation in Somalia.
He said there is need for Nigeria to harness indigenous foods adding that over $60.8 billions was spent to import food to Nigeria and other African countries in contrast with $15 trillion spent on conflict globally to buy guns and ammunition. This is sad”.
“Government should come up with policy that will make citizens have access to food. It’s undignifying to always hand over food to people without developing their economic capacity to be able to access the food themselves”, he said
“Africa should move away from agriculture for the stomach to agriculture for wealth and strengthen agriculture production to address food security.
“Government policy should attract more youth into the agricultural sector, encourage and support the African Free Continental trade agreement:
“WFP is prioritising its operations to reach 1.1 million vulnerable people every month in northern Nigeria. Those receiving assistance include displaced people living in camps or host communities, as well as vulnerable members of host communities and people returning home after months of displacement”, he submitted.
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