From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The National Secretary of the Labour Party, Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim, has declared that had become one too many, and this magnitude of the loss of lives to recent stampedes at a time when Nigeria is not facing any natural disaster was a pointer to the fact that hunger could be the worst epidemic a people can face.
Ibrahim said the party is petrified over the stampedes that resulted in the death of about 65 Nigerians in the last few days in Oyo, Anambra states, and the FCT.
Recall that as reported, about 40 children died during a stampede at a carnival in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital; 20 residents of the 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.
The deadly incidents occurred in Catholic churches in the FCT while distributing food items to vulnerable persons. Also, Okija, Anambra state incident happened during a palliative distribution by a notable philanthropist. So also, the Ibadan, Oyo state was at 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. However, presently, the poverty rate in Nigeria is estimated to be 40.7%, making Nigeria the second-largest poor population in the world after India.
He noted that it is only poverty that makes some Nigerians go scooping fuel from accident scenes, resulting in an inferno that brought about hundreds of casualties. These have happened on several occasions in the last year.
He added that one major reason some people resort to crime is hunger, as Nigerians in millions have been subjected to hunger arising from other reasons such as rising inflation and poor economic management.
“And 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.
“The Labour Party, before the 2023 general elections, warned that unless we change our consumption policies to a productive policy, the economy will be in serious jeopardy. Here we are at a crossroads today.
“We are therefore calling on the government to scale down most of its agenda in 2024 and redirect its policies towards food production. Over 70 percent of Nigeria’s land resources are lying to waste. The aquatic economy is prostrate, and the ministries in charge of these sectors should be made to function.
“The protection of lives and property is the cardinal purpose of the government. But as we can see, the lives of Nigerians no longer matter that much.
“While a large number of Nigerians have been wasted by the butcher knife of kidnappers, many simply get killed while trying to survive at all costs. Nothing tangible seems to be done by the government to ameliorate the hunger crisis and check the poverty level in Nigeria.
“The government must simply sit up and put their acts together; the statistics are not good, and enough of taking the people for granted”, he stressed.
