The United Nations (UN) has urged the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, to prioritise food security by setting aside funds in the federal budget to address the issue.
UN Director of World Food Programme (WFP) Africa Union Global Office, Dr. Hameed Nuru, delivered the message at a lecture at the University of Ilorin in Ilorin, Kwara State.
“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 food security is vital for the future of Nigeria and that the country is one of the hotspots for food insecurity in Africa.
“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 added.