Stampedes: Nigeria facing hunger epidemic – LP Scribe

By Jude Opara, Abuja

As Nigerians continue to bemoan the deadly stampedes where no fewer than 70 lives were lost, the National Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Alhaji Umar Farouk said that the Party was petrified over the incidents that happened in Ibadan, Okija and in the FCT last week.
In a statement in Abuja yesterday, Alhaj Farouk regretted that the stampedes have become one too many, adding that the loss of such number of lives at a time when Nigeria is not facing any natural epidemic was a pointer to the fact that hunger could be the worst epidemic a people can face.
“As reported, about 40 children, died during a stampede at a carnival in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, a few days ago. Also, 20 residents of Okija community in Anambra State lost their lives in a similar stampede. On the same day, more than 10 people died following a stampede in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
“All these unfortunate incidents occurred in similar circumstances. While one happened when one of the Catholic churches in the FCT was distributing food items to vulnerable persons, the Okija, Anambra state incident happened during a palliative distribution by a notable philanthropist. So also, the Ibadan, Oyo state was an event funded by a popular royalty. The bottom-line is that there is hunger in the land.
“According to the World Bank, in 2023, the poverty rate in Nigeria was estimated to be 38.9%, with 87 million Nigerians living below the poverty line. But presently, the poverty rate in Nigeria is estimated to be 40.7%. This made Nigeria the second-largest poor population in the world, after India”.
The LP scribe further quoted a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), whose recent survey revealed that more than 2 million people have been kidnapped in Nigeria in the last one year with a cumulative $1.42 billion paid to kidnappers within the same period.
Farouk further regretted that Nigerians in their millions have been subjected to hunger arising from other reasons such as rising inflation and poor economic management.
“The economic reforms of the Tinubu administration have caused untold hardship to Nigerians. Hunger is turning into an epidemic and not many people can survive this situation”.
He noted that the Labour Party prior to the 2023 general election had warned that unless we change our consumption policies to a productive policy, the economy will be in serious jeopardy. He called on the government to scale down most of its agenda in 2025 and redirect its policies towards food production.