Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, has lamented the consistent increase in the prices of food items in the market, New About Nigeria reports.
Obi made his concerns known in a statement shared on his official X account in celebration of this year’s World Food Day.
In the statement, Obi said that due to this increase in prices of food items, many Nigerian households are now living in severe hunger.
The former Anambra State Governor also revealed that, due to this backdrop, Nigeria is now ranked among the 20 most food-insecure nations in the world.
He said, “This global observance is particularly significant to us in Nigeria, where food prices are rising daily, and basic food items are becoming unaffordable to most people. Severe hunger has now become an unfortunate member of many households in Nigeria- the once giant of Africa, a nation with the most arable land on the continent. Nigeria’s struggle with a food crisis and hunger is disheartening, especially considering the vast, fertile land we possess as a nation. In the past, I lamented that the majority of Nigerian households spent most of their income on food, leaving none for savings or other essential needs.
“Today, it is even more distressing to note that many Nigerian households can no longer afford basic sustenance with their income. Food prices are soaring, food inflation is rising, the food crisis is worsening by the day, and hunger has escalated into a national emergency.”
Obi further noted that the solution to this hunger in the country is agriculture, adding that, Nigeria “must be deliberate in our agricultural investments.”
