Senator Ali Ndume, the Senate Chief Whip, has raised the alarm over the alarming rate of child deaths due to food scarcity in Nigeria, drawing parallels to the dire situations in neighboring countries like Niger and South Sudan.
Ndume expressed grave concerns that the Nigerian government’s failure to address the rising cost of living and widespread food shortages could lead to a full-blown famine, particularly impacting vulnerable children.
“We want to draw the government’s attention to the fact that Nigeria is not only facing a high cost of living but also food scarcity,” Ndume said. “We have seen how it happened in Niger Republic and South Sudan, where children are dying due to hunger, and we are starting to see it in Nigeria.”
The senator further criticized the Tinubu administration’s perceived closed-door policy, suggesting that even some ministers and members of the National Assembly are unable to directly engage the President on these pressing issues.
Ndume’s remarks come shortly after he and Senator Sunday Karimi sponsored a motion to address the growing food crisis in the country. The senators noted that the World Food Programme has warned of 82 million Nigerians potentially facing food insecurity in the next five years.
In response, the federal government has announced a 150-day duty-free import window for certain food commodities and plans to collaborate with state governments to expand agricultural land cultivation. However, critics argue that these measures may be too little, too late, as the hunger crisis continues to deepen.
With the specter of famine looming large, Senator Ndume has urged President Tinubu to take immediate and decisive action to combat the scourge of hunger and malnutrition afflicting Nigerian children and families.
