In Renewed Hope, Nigerians Die To Eat
The man who taught me Land Law in Abia State University, Uturu, described Nigeria as, "A land of negative possibilities"! As a budding patriot, I asked my erudite lecturer for clarification of the term, "Land of negative possibilities". The man explained that if one heard news of any strange incident in Nigeria, all that one needed to ask was: "Was that incident a negative development? If the answer to that question was in the affirmative, then there would be no need to doubt the news. According to the man, "Anything negative was possible in Nigeria". I had my reservations then, but as I matured with time and began dispassionate evaluation of developments in Nigeria, it became more difficult for me to disagree with my teacher on that submission. Recently, the fact that Nigerians now die in droves in order to eat under the watch of President Bola Tinubu who taunts his administration as Renewed Hope administration has further strengthened the veracity of my lecturer's considered submission.
When the 2023 Tinubu presidential campaign reinvented the slogan of the 1993 presidential campaign of late icon of democracy and Nigerian business mogul, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, many, for obvious reasons, saw the reinvention as a mere gimmick staged for the purpose of riding on the effervescent charisma of the Nigerian martyr, M. K. O. Abiola, to curry votes of gullible Nigerians. Many had alleged that, apart from the dominance of money in the campaigns, there was no other similarity between the Hope 1993 and the Renewed Hope 2023 campaign projects. Furthermore, critics of the Renewed Hope 2023 presidential campaign project pointed out that unlike Hope 1993 presidential project which had a robust manifesto that gave meaningful insights into the intentions and programmes of the proposed presidency, the Renewed Hope 2023 was filled with empty babble like, "Emi lo kan"; "A town hall different from bala blue"; and so on. It is also on record that during the 1993 presidential campaigns, late M. K. O. Abiola participated in debates and defended every bit of his manifesto. This was not so with the Renewed Hope 2023 campaigns which was, allegedly, loath to debates and intelligent interfaces but had one aim: To grab power by all means and run with it!
Nigerians were shocked by President Tinubu's appraisal of the cause of the death of scores of innocent Nigerians on different dates in Lagos, Sokoto, Bauchi, Anambra, Oyo and Abuja between March and December 2024 in there scramble for handouts to feed on. In his maiden media chat on December 23, the Jagaban of Borgu had blamed the organizers of the fatal food distribution events for publicizing their respective events when they had insufficient food to give out. In his words, "If you know you don’t have enough to give, don’t attempt or publicize it.” With due respect to President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, it is difficult for discerning minds to agree with him on this. To pundits, the deaths recorded at food distribution points were direct offshoots of the hunger and poverty in the land which President Tinubu and his administration cannot successfully deny being responsible for.
The inauguration of the Tinubu presidency, also known as the Renewed Hope administration was marked by the embarrassing withdrawal of the fuel subsidy without necessary shock-absorbing preparations like functional local refineries, fixing the power sector etc. That economic blunder was followed by the deregulation or floating of the Nigerian currency, the Naira. These set the Nigerian economy on a trajectory of inflammable inflation characterized by free fall of the Naira, loss of jobs, hunger, malnutrition etc. The price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) increased by 134% after the subsidy removal, leading to a rise in transportation costs and, subsequently, food prices.
Recent brief of the National Economic Summit Group has shown that there is a worsening food security situation in Nigeria, with increasing food prices, reduced food availability, and rising hunger and malnutrition.
The number of food-insecure Nigerians soared from 66.2 million in Q1 2023 to 100 million in Q1 2024. This significant increase indicates a worsening food security situation. Furthermore, 18.6 million Nigerians faced acute hunger, while 43.7 million employed crisis-level coping strategies in Q1 2024.
Regarding poverty, Nigeria's poverty situation worsened between May 2023 and December 2024 with 14 million Nigerians pushed into poverty by December 2023. Food inflation also rose to 35.41% in January 2024, further exacerbating the poverty situation.
In all, available records suggest that hunger and poverty levels in Nigeria have worsened between the time of the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy in May 2023 and December 2024, with significant increases in food insecurity, acute hunger, and poverty rates. The foregoing clearly indicates that over 70℅ of the Nigerian population are affected by food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition. President Bola Tinubu should be told that these were the causes of the fatal stampedes at food sharing points across the length and breadth of Nigeria; and these cannot be handled through organized Almajiri as the president seems to be recommending. President Tinubu should declare emergency on Agriculture and food production to stop Nigerians from dying in their bid to eat food.