…Urges priority shift to agriculture for self-sufficiency
Peter Obi, of the Labour Party, says it is “disheartening” and a national disgrace that war-torn Ukraine is donating food to Nigeria.
Recall that last week, Ukraine donated 25,000 tonnes of wheat as emergency food assistance to 1.3 million vulnerable, crisis-affected people in northeast Nigeria amidst rising inflation and food price spikes.
Obi, yesterday on X, said, “It is disheartening that our once economically confident nation, blessed with vast arable land and abundant natural resources, now relies on a war-torn Ukraine for food assistance”.
According to him, “This national disgrace stems from years of leadership failure, necessitating urgent reflection and a reordering of our national priorities and resource management and allocation”. He, however, commended the Ukrainian government for supporting Nigeria.
Obi added that Nigeria “must aggressively reorder our priorities by investing resources in productive sectors like agriculture”, saying, “Addressing insecurity is crucial for farmers to return to their fields, enabling a productive manufacturing sector and supporting small businesses”.
As a result of inflation, food prices have spiked to an unbearable level, forcing Nigerians to protest in Niger, Kano, Osun, Ibadan and Lagos States, calling on the Government to alleviate their sufferings.
On Sunday, some Abuja residents raided a government-owned warehouse, looting food and other items. Similarly, a truck conveying foodstuff had been stopped and looted in Suleja, Niger and Zaria, in Kaduna, before the Sunday incident.
