The famous English poet Laurence Binyon described hunger both as “a shadow who sits down by each man’s side” and as a silent killer, invisible, known only to “naked things”, like “the tide that buries the playground of children”. Is Binyon right? Well, only to the extent he captures hunger as a pervasive, primal and complex phenomenon that destructively confronts humanity. 

But hunger is no longer invisible, as Binyon claims. It is now in our faces—we see it in the empty plates of hungry children and women who hang around the hard shoulders of our roads and beg for alms and in the faces of poor fathers too ashamed to return to their homes empty-handed each day that they hang on to cheap booze at streetscapes to drown their sorrows. 

We see it too in the faces of our neighbours and our faces as the mirrors stare at us. To paraphrase Achebe, it stubbornly and persistently knocks at our doors, and when we say there is no seat for it, it tells us not to worry because it has its stool.

Last November, the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), having jointly glimpsed into 2025, captured the face of hunger and issued a grim warning for Nigeria. They warned that by the second half of 2025, our country will face a monumental hunger crisis. Five million people are already grappling with acute food insecurity in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe. Meanwhile, emerging hunger hotspots in Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto point to a broader national emergency. 

Particularly alarming are the 5.4 million children and 800,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women at risk of acute malnutrition, with 1.8 million children potentially requiring critical nutrition treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition. “Record inflation, climate shocks and ongoing conflicts are projected to push the number of food insecure Nigerians to 33 million in 2025, a sharp increase from the 25 million who need assistance today. Never before have there been so many people in Nigeria without food”, they warned.

The hunger crisis is more than just a statistic. As a country of people, we are dealing with a human tragedy. The recent deaths from food stampedes in Ibadan, Okija, and Abuja offer a glimpse into the desperation engulfing millions. In Ibadan, women and children lost their lives in a chaotic scramble for food at a charity event, reflecting the extreme hunger in urban areas once considered food secure. A similar tragedy struck Okija, where people were crushed to death in their quest for food relief. 

In Abuja, the nation’s capital, the irony of stampedes for food aid in a city of wealth and power lays bare the growing chasm between Nigeria’s elites and its impoverished masses, exposing the satisfaction of our wealthy classes that don’t care.

The hunger crisis is fueling other human disasters. In Zamfara, for example, parents, desperate to reduce the mouths they feed, are marrying their children off. Elsewhere in northern Nigeria, young men, turning to criminal activities to survive, are exacerbating insecurity in the region. In the South, sense and sensibilities have become scarce commodities as hungry and desperate young men and women pursuing dark art make purchases of life that amount to blood money. 

Every day, young men and women indulge in what netizens now call “mining”—scavenging tombs for human skulls and fresh human parts. These sad stories illustrate the depth of the crisis and its impacts on our people.

The causes of this crisis are intertwined with the failures of neoliberal economic reforms that Tinubu is relentlessly pursuing, which have exacerbated poverty and inequality. For example, the removal of fuel subsidies in 2023 led to a sharp rise in transportation and food costs, pushing essential commodities beyond the reach of millions of ordinary citizens. The wholesome devaluation of the naira has decimated household purchasing power, making even basic staples unaffordable and leaving millions battling hunger.

The consequences of these policies are tragic. Malnutrition is not just a temporary affliction but a permanent condition that stunts growth in children. Across our country, stories abound of children too weak to play. Their frail bodies are a testament to their conditions. Expectant mothers face risks of complications—due to malnutrition— during childbirth.

Addressing this crisis requires a shift away from market-centric reforms to people-centered policies. President Tinubu must prioritise social protection measures consistent with the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, specifically Section 17(3) of the Constitution, which provides that “children, young persons and the age are protected against any exploitation whatsoever, and against moral and material neglect.” He must provide targeted subsidies for essential goods. 

Security and governance reforms are equally critical. In vast swathes of northern Nigeria, banditry has displaced farmers and disrupted food supply chains. In the food baskets of our country, insurgents and terrorists continue to sack farmers from their farmlands. In Benue State alone, on Christmas Day, 33 people were killed. Kidnapping, which has become a lucrative enterprise, not only poses a security threat but also exacerbates the country’s hunger crisis. 

The rampant insecurity caused by kidnappings has forced many farmers to abandon farmlands that are central to food production. With farming communities living in fear of abduction, farmlands’ cultivation cycles are disrupted, leading to poor harvests. The huge ransoms demanded by kidnappers drain resources that could otherwise be used for economic and food-related needs. The ripple effects are felt in soaring food prices, heightened food insecurity, and a deepening hunger crisis that affects millions.

Displaced citizens must return to their lands and rebuild their lives. This can only happen in a secure environment that protects livelihoods. Restoring security requires strengthening law enforcement, community collaboration, and socio-economic reforms. This government must intentionally deploy well-equipped and trained security agencies to affected areas supported by advanced surveillance technology. Addressing poverty, unemployment, and marginalisation is also crucial. 

Hunger is a failure of governance with tragic consequences for our humanity.

Governments at all levels must act decisively to alleviate immediate suffering and halt the further spread of hunger. The stubborn pursuits of neoliberal economic policies by President Tinubu make the “projected push of the number of food insecure Nigerians to 33 million in 2025” inevitable. The recent deaths and the stories of suffering across Nigeria are stark reminders of what is at stake. Hunger is a national emergency, and addressing it must be a priority. 

Our country must heed the warning of food aid agencies. Now.  

Abdul Mahmud is a human rights attorney