No food insecurity in Nigeria, BMO tells UN

The global report on food crisis which included Nigeria among countries that suffered most from high level of food insecurity in the world in 2018 “is totally off the mark, unverifiable and unreliable,” the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said.

It stated that the report released by United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (UNFAO) “is untenable bearing in mind that under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, there has been an increase in agricultural activities leading to sufficiency in food production and availability.”

In a statement issued in Abuja by its chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and secretary, Cassidy Madueke, the group stated that: “Even in the instance of the North-east where there are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), there have been deliberate measures taken by the federal government to ensure adequate food for the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.

“We want to also note that several intervention agencies are cooperating with the federal government in ensuring adequate food for the people in the war affected areas. The agencies and institutions include National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), UNHCR, UNICEF, ECOWAS, UNDP and NIMASA.”

The group further stated that “in view of all these interventions, it runs contrary to reason that an organisation like the United Nations, or any of its agencies would lump Nigeria with countries like Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan where there are full blown wars.” 

“We, therefore, consider the report as baseless, lacking in depth and calculated to diminish the efforts of the Buhari administration to reposition the country in all sectors.

“Definitely, with the reduction in the number of IDPs and their camps in the northeast, based on the proactive measures put in place by the federal government, the challenge of food insecurity has been drastically reduced and in some cases, totally eliminated. 

“For instance, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, the number of IDPs in Nigeria has reduced to about 417,000, while countries like Ethiopia and Syria account for 1.4 million and 1.2 million IDPs, respectively. Nigeria definitely has no place among the countries cited in the report.”

Leave a Reply