The House of Representatives has said the Federal Government should declare a state of emergency on stable food in Nigeria, warning that famine looms in the country due to the growing insecurity that is frustrating agriculture.
According to the House, the security crisis in the country is eroding the achievements of the Federal Government led by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on the agricultural revolution in the country.
A member of the House, Sani Bala, had raised the alarm via a motion of urgent public importance at the plenary on Thursday, which the lawmakers unanimously adopted.
Bala cited the recent projection by the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation that an estimated 13 million people in Nigeria would face the risk of acute food insecurity in the next few months.
He quoted the report as saying that the number of people in critical or worse phases of food insecurity may increase to about 16.9 million unless efforts are made to provide adequate support and government intervention to ensure recovery and resilience.
The lawmaker also noted that the Federal Government has promoted massive agricultural development in recent times, leading to the closure of land borders against the importation of some staple food in order to encourage adequate local production and food sufficiency.
Adopting the motion, the House urged the Federal Government to “declare a state of emergency on staple food produce and initiate a deliberate plan of averting any impending famine or food shortage in the post COVID-19 era.”
The House also urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, direct relevant agencies to forestall further smuggling of grains out of the country to neighbouring countries.
