The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has berated the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the soaring price of food in the country, saying Nigerians are now “united by hunger and starvation.”

The former Anambra governor in a statement on Monday said that the government has been unable to address the burgeoning increase in the prices of food items in the country.

Obi claimed that the citizens of the country are “losing their lives” in their quest to cheaper food as hunger persists across Nigeria.

He further highlighted that millions of Nigerians do not know where their next meal will come from, adding that “hardship, hunger and starvation is prevalent in the country.”

“Just yesterday, I read the saddening reports of how the search for cheap rice claimed the lives of some Nigerians in Lagos. According to the report, a massive crowd of hungry Nigerians had besieged the Zonal Office of the Nigerian Customs Service in Yaba, Lagos, to purchase the discounted 25kg bags of rice being offered by the Customs Servic
“In the course of the heavy stampede that ensued, some lives were lost. It is heartbreaking to think that despite all the wealth of our nation, Nigerians are losing their lives in their desperate quest to buy cheaper food in the face of the growing hunger and starvation in the country.

“This sad occurrence reflects the level of hardship, hunger, and starvation prevalent in the country.

“Today, we are one big nation united by hunger and starvation, to the point of dying to make ends meet,” he said.

Speaking further, Peter Obi advised that the federal government invest “aggressively” in the agricultural sector to curb food crisis in the country.

He noted that the uncultivated land in the North is Nigeria’s big asset, emphasizing that such invest will result large-scale food production and also bolster the country’s export trade.

According to Obi, the government also needs to fix security to enable the safety of the farmers and their farmland.

He said; “Again, I strongly urge the government to lead the crusade against hunger by investing aggressively in our agricultural sector. The vast uncultivated lands in the North, as I have always said, are our biggest assets.

“Now is the time to put them into maximum use for food production in the nation and for exports.

“In doing this, the government and security agencies must ensure the safety and security of the farmers.”

Nigeria currently faces a soaring price in food inflation. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s food inflation is 35.41% as of January 2024, the highest it has been in almost a decade.

This rise in the prices of food items has prompted the federal government to declare a state of emergency on food security in the country.

Also, the minister of information, Mohammed Idris, noted that the government has decided to open the National Food Reserves as part of the measures to crash food prices.