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Across Nigeria, many poor citizens are battered by hunger pangs, forcing them to abandon decency and steal food in public places. Some have also resorted to serially begging for food and seeking palliatives in a bid to put an end to the seemingly endless cycle of hardship in the country, VICTOR AYENI writes
The knock on the metal door at the unexpected hour was feeble, yet persistent. The time was a few minutes to 6 am.
The early morning darkness was gradually being swept away by the light of sunrise while many residents of Ojodu, Lagos State, were still in their beds.
Mrs Yetunde Oyadiran’s hands trembled as she knocked on her neighbour’s door – not from the cold, but from the burden of her decision.
This was the last place she could ever imagine herself to be, standing at someone else’s doorstep on a cold Saturday morning to beg for food.
“I am really sorry to disturb you this very morning,” the mother of two said, as she embarrassingly avoided making eye contact with her neighbour, simply known as Sunday.
“Please, I need your help. Help me because of my children. I gave them the last food in the house to eat yesterday evening. They have nothing to eat,” she said in Yoruba language, as tears welled up in her eyes.
Her clothes, faded and threadbare, clung to her body like shadows of better days. Her husband had been out of work since February, ever since the company he worked for laid off its employees.
In his desperate attempt to provide for his family, Oyadiran’s husband took up labour work at a food factory, earning N2,000 a day – a meagre amount that barely covered his needs, let alone those of his family.
Oyadiran, a teacher in a private school, had not been paid for two months and had been burdened with loans from friends and family.
“Please, I would appreciate any help from you to help me feed my children. I can still manage myself, but I don’t want my children to starve,” she added.
When Sunday offered her an appreciable quantity of raw foodstuff with some money, Oyadiran was so flustered that she nearly ran out of the right words to speak.
An admixture of prayer and gratitude flowed out of her lips as her eyes shone in surprise.
“I couldn’t sleep all night. I kept wondering, are we going to starve to death amid this hardship? I told myself, even if the worst should happen to me, I would go out and look for help for my children,” the mother said with an emotion-laden tone.
Like Oyadiran and her husband, millions of Nigerians are uncertain where their next meal will come from, as the country grapples with a relentless surge in food prices.
Across Nigeria, children, youths, and the elderly are battling the pains of hunger, as soaring food prices and limited financial resources make survival increasingly difficult.
‘I eat once on most days’
When Peter Onuoha sold his farm in his village in Imo State and came down to Lagos last year, he thought he had found a legitimate investment job.
Realising later that he had fallen victim to an investment scam, he struggled to find a job which provided accommodation.
Eventually, Onuoha found a security job, but just as he was about to get on his feet, he lost his mother.
“I became indebted due to the funeral, and my salary of N46,000 couldn’t even cover anything or help me get on with life. Now, I eat once a day most times, while frantically searching for a job.
“I have a younger sister who also found a job, but with the high food prices coupled with our low income, we have nothing to live on. There are days, I have to beg for money and give her all because as a girl, I don’t want her to fall prey to bad men because of lack of food or money,” he told Saturday PUNCH.
Like Onuoha, on most days of the week, the pangs of hunger wrack through Tokunbo Adeseye’s slender body as he struggles to find employment.
The graduate of Microbiology told Saturday PUNCH that he relocated from Osogbo to Lagos in July hoping that he would find a white-collar job.
But having navigated the state of aquatic splendour, his efforts to get a job have been fraught with frustration.
“I currently squat with a friend. It was in a bid to survive that I recently took a loan to start selling clothing and accessories. But affording food is now a serious task. Sometimes, I eat once or twice a day.
“Only the rich can afford to eat thrice in this country now. Things are so tough and sometimes, it’s hard to have hope. The only good part of it is the support I receive from my church welfare. There is so much suffering in Nigeria. Who did we offend?” Adeseye queried.
Widespread frustration
Voicing her frustration, a mother of one, Bola Owoade, lamented that the increase in food prices has taken some foods off her table.
“I can’t afford to buy yams, beans or even plantain anymore because they are now expensive. Eggs too are gradually disappearing from our table.
“A crate of eggs now is N8,000. Each week, the prices of food keep increasing and my income is still the same, for how long will all of this continue? They should just tell us when this hell will come to an end,” Owoade said.
A food seller, Rachael Olubumi, told Saturday PUNCH that it is not only buyers who are affected by the soaring prices.
She noted that even sellers are not making much gain in selling foodstuffs because of poor sales and low profit.
“I just bought a bag of rice two days ago. A bag of long-grain rice is now N130,000 whereas the short grain is N70,000. By the time you do the calculations, you just realise that people would rather buy the latter because it is cheaper.
“At the end of the day, you find out that you make a marginal profit, but when you tell people they won’t believe it. The profit that we are making on selling food is shrinking and it’s affecting us too.
“At first, they said dollar exchange was responsible, now what excuse do they have again? On some days, I wake up and just wish I could go into another profession because we are not making profits anymore,” she stated in a sad tone.
Hunger crisis
The removal of the long-standing fuel subsidy by the Federal Government in June 2023 triggered an economic reality which led to a sharp increase in the prices of food among other commodities.
As of September 2024, the World Bank’s food security report ranked Nigeria as the fifth country hardest hit by food inflation in the world and the third in Africa, trailing Malawi and Liberia.
Similarly, according to the World Bank’s Food Security Update Report, the number of Nigerians facing acute food shortages has increased by 28 per cent since 2023, placing the country among the top five globally for the most significant rise in hunger.
This assessment is reflected on the global hunger ranking chart, with Nigeria emerging 110th out of the 127 countries in the 2024 Global Hunger Index. With 28.8 points on the Index, Nigeria is among countries with “serious” hunger levels.
Recently, the World Bank also released the Nigeria Development Update report, which offered a bleak outlook on poverty in Nigeria, stating that over 129 million Nigerians now live below the national poverty line.
The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics also revealed that the inflation rate in September 2024 surged to 32.7 per cent from 32.2 per cent the previous month, with food inflation being a major driver.
Agrarian communities in Bauchi, Jigawa, Adamawa, and Borno, which produce major staples such as rice, maize, wheat, onions, and cowpea, have been significantly affected by insecurity.
Foodstuff dealers in the South-East region, comprising Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, and Ebonyi states have also linked the rising prices of food items to extortions at roadblocks mounted on many roads by military and paramilitary officers.
In an ironic twist, many farmers in the North-West, North-Central and North-East were morbidly afraid to go to their farms to avoid being kidnapped or killed by bandits or terrorists.
Furthermore, flooding incidents in agrarian communities have also worsened food availability, affordability, and accessibility in many states, leaving millions in dire humanitarian need.
Long queue as caucasian distributes bread
Last Saturday, a video that went viral on social media captured numerous Lagos residents lining up to receive loaves of bread from a Caucasian evangelist.
The video clip, which was shared by X-Daily on X.com on Saturday and viewed by Saturday PUNCH, showed the long queue of recipients along Eleganza Junction, near Parklane Hotel, Ajao Estate, in the Oshodi-Isolo area of the state.
In the video, the white evangelist was seen handing a large loaf of bread to each person in the queue, who accepted it with visible joy on their faces.
The narrator in the video said, “This is Ajao Estate. You can see a white man there, sharing bread with people in Ajao Estate. This morning he shared Bibles, but people were not on the line like this before, but now that he’s sharing bread, the line is filled with people.
“See how people have joined the queue. People are hungry; that’s what people are shouting. Does this man (President Bola Tinubu) want to finish us before he releases this country to us? Can you see a white man sharing bread and Bibles? See people jubilating.”
Many netizens have described the video which has garnered over 20,000 views as a reflection of the hunger crisis in the country.
Blaming the hunger situation on failed policies enacted by the President, an X user, Tobi Akinbo, wrote, “A white man sharing bread at Ajao Estate Lagos State. The population of hungry Nigerians increasing by the day, as a result of wicked policies.”
On his part, Izuchukwu Nwabueze, wrote, “Tinubu and his APC format will turn Nigerians into beggars in the 21st century. We are back to the colonial era.”
“Blessed are those who do not place their hope in Nigeria, for they shall not be disappointed,” Always, an X user wrote.
Also reacting, an X user, Tunexi, said, “The commentary is hilarious though. It is the person who has eaten that will have the strength to read the Bible.”
Another netizen, King VDM wrote, “Oyinbo (white) people will just be using this to laugh at us in their country now. Tinubu, well done o.”
Also reacting, Chibuzo Victor, wrote, “He (the preacher) will use this video to collect grants from the United Nations and other organisations alike.”
A resident of the area, Adejuwon Joseph, told Saturday PUNCH that the gesture of the foreign preacher is a positive one given the economic hardship in the country.
“Forget about whether he is a preacher or not, are we going to deny that he is actually helping people? That singular gesture has provided breakfast for many families today. There is hunger everywhere in Nigeria. It’s our reality and we can no longer deny it,” he stated.
In his reaction, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund Chief of Health, Dr Eduardo Celades, said, “I’ve been in Nigeria through the years and this is the worst year that I have seen. It’s likely tied to the economic situation.
“We have seen an increase in poverty. A bag of rice is now much more expensive and we are seeing malnutrition emerging strongly in the North-East and the North-West.”
‘I stole out of hunger’
On September 6, a video of a man in a blue shirt pretending to buy bread from a vendor at a bustling market in Ibadan, Oyo State, went viral.
Unknown to the unsuspecting seller, the man had quickly taken a loaf of bread worth N1,500 and hid it in his bag.
In the video, a bystander who claimed to have seen the whole mischief from afar confronted the man and exposed him.
“That bread you just put in your bag, bring it out now!” the bystander ordered the alleged thief in an angry tone.
“Are you mad? The woman (seller) insisted that she was looking for her bread, didn’t you know that I saw you stealing it? Kneel there! You are a thief,” the male bystander blurted out, as he hit the man with his palm.
The next day, in another video posted by Oyo Affairs on Facebook, the alleged thief was identified as a popular footballer named Rashid who admitted he stole the bread out of hunger.
Recounting what transpired on the fateful day, Rashid said, “I am a footballer and when I couldn’t make ends meet, I resorted to working as a bricklayer. That day I was coming from where I went to play. The match was cancelled because of the downpour so I decided to return home.
“I am sorry for what happened that day. I was just hungry. I’m not a bad person; it was hunger that pushed me to that state. Though I have my children living with me, my wife has left me.”
The content creator who interviewed Rashid, D’Caretaker, appealed to kind-hearted citizens to financially support the footballer whom he described as a childhood friend who had been adversely affected by the country’s economic situation.
Scrambling for food
On October 3, a video surfaced on X showing a crowd of women and youths on Lagos Island grappling for loaves of bread distributed as part of a palliative effort to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day.
The crowd was visibly restrained and managed by uniformed men and political representatives, who escorted each woman from the crowd to a pickup van, where they were given a large loaf of bread.
While this could be described as a more coordinated measure of palliative aid, there have been instances of aggressive, hunger-ravaged citizens descending on trucks conveying food items or looting food warehouses.
In the early hours of July 28, many youths broke into warehouses in Adamawa State and looted food and non-food items belonging to the National Emergency Management Agency and the state government.
Two warehouses in Yola, the state capital, were reportedly attacked. The youths allegedly drilled holes in the warehouses’ walls to gain access to it, a move which triggered a wave of arrests in which 44 suspects were nabbed by the police.
On March 3, hoodlums also attacked a warehouse belonging to the Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration located in the Dei-Dei area of Abuja where they looted rice, grains, and other relief items.
Similarly, on February 22, irate youths disrupted a protest by fish vendors in Niger State and stole food items from trucks stuck in traffic along Kaduna Road in the Suleja area of Niger State.
Hunger protests
On August 1, many angry Nigerians took to the streets to voice their dissatisfaction with government policies and economic conditions.
Convened by several groups, the protesters demanded a change in economic policies and called for an end to hardship and corruption in governance.
Among the protesters who hit the streets of Lagos on the first day of the protest was an unidentified female protester, with an empty pot, lamenting the hunger.
“Ebi o! Ebi o! (Hunger o! Hunger o!),” the woman shouted, urging the government to come to the aid of poor citizens and improve the economy.
Speaking in a viral video, the woman said she was an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo State, but had lived in Lagos for over 50 years.
In another viral clip on X, the woman disclosed that she could barely afford one meal a day.
Speaking in Yoruba, she said, “I can barely afford to eat once a day. The hunger has become too much. It is unbearable. My children are suffering.
“There is no money in my pocket. Does this government want to kill us? Overthinking wants to kill me. I can no longer survive. It is too much for me to bear. The government should come to my aid.”
Kicking off a crowdfunding initiative, Afrobeat singer, Oxlade, as well as many other Nigerians pooled money together for her to the tune of over N3m.
In his response to the protesters, Tinubu called for a suspension of the protest and promised to tackle the economic hardship in the country.
“I have heard you loud and clear. I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests, and I want to assure you that our government is committed to listening and addressing the concerns of our citizens.
“Let nobody misinform and mis-educate you about your country or tell you that your government does not care about you,” the President said in a nationwide broadcast.
Economists weigh in
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, an economist, Oluwaseun Wusu, decried the high costs of foodstuffs which he said had pushed many households into poverty.
“Rising food prices for staples like rice, maize, and wheat have driven many households into poverty and in a country where you have many people living below a dollar each day, it has forced many families to now eat fewer meals.
“This is why food palliatives would always be sought by the populace. Where you have high energy costs, increased transport fares and insecurity hampering the agricultural sector, it is expected that food prices will also spike. It will push people into hunger and make people vulnerable,” Wusu said.
He added that the government needed to invest in the agricultural sector and implement sustainable farming practices to enhance food production and security.
On her part, an agricultural economist from the Centre for Agricultural Development and Sustainable Environment at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Tobi Awolope, attributed the high hunger rate in Nigeria to climate change.
Awolope noted that many farmers had a low adaptive capacity to cope with the effects of climate change, such as irregular rainfall patterns and lack of irrigation.
“Climate change has reversed the progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2, which aim to eradicate poverty and hunger.
Smallholder farmers are struggling to adapt to the changing climate, and this has led to declining food availability and rising prices,” she said.
She emphasised the need for government support for farmers, including subsidising production inputs, and providing technology and irrigation assistance.
“Farmers cannot mitigate the effects of climate change alone. The government needs to step in and support them to ensure food security,” she added.
Awolope also stressed the importance of utilising research recommendations to inform policy decisions, saying, “This is not the time to leave research output on the shelf. We need to use those recommendations to make informed decisions that will support our farmers and ensure food availability.”
