There is no gainsaying the fact that there is malnutrition and starvation in Nigeria at present. Last month, even President Bola Ahmed Tinubu admitted, albeit reluctantly, that there is hardship and suffering in the land, with a damning caveat that both hardship and suffering of the masses were never an exclusive preserve of Nigeria. The truth remains that Tinubu had stated the obvious.
According to the United Nations (UN), Wikipedia and the Oxford Dictionary definitions of the word famine respectively, it is also clear the kind of hunger, malnutrition and starvation being witnessed in the country can be regarded as famine.
The Wikipedia defines famine as “Severe and prolonged hunger in a substantial proportion of a region or country resulting in widespread and acute malnutrition and death by starvation and disease”.
The United Nations says “Famine is essentially a technical term, referring to a population that faces widespread malnutrition and hunger-related deaths due to lack of access to food “.
But the Oxford Dictionary states that, famine is “Crisis in which large numbers of people in an area cannot obtain enough food to sustain themselves”.
The New York Times Editorial of June 11, 2024, which stressed the dire economic situation in Nigeria, also alluded to the truth that famine is ravaging Nigerians. This is because, according to the foreign medium over 130 million citizens cannot afford to buy food that can guarantee them a three-square meal per day.
Food items have become the costliest items in the country, and costlier in Nigeria than in any other country of the world. Last April, food inflation hit a record 40.53 percent, the highest in the history of the country.
But what are the ruling class doing to arrest the ugly situation before it gets out of hand? This is what we are serving you in this special edition. The Cover Story was crafted by our indefatigable Abuja Bureau Chief, Udoka Ekeleme. Enjoy your reading.
