“Buhari Won’t Allow Hunger To Kill Nigerians” – Presidency

Forum 7 years ago

“Buhari Won’t Allow Hunger To Kill Nigerians” – Presidency

The Presidency said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will not allow starvation to kill Nigerians. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity,
Mallam Garba Shehu said this yesterday in a reaction to the recent alarm by some aid agencies that starvation would kill one million internally displaced persons in the northeast next year.

He said “We’re concerned about the blatant attempts to whip up a nonexistent fear of mass starvation by some aid agencies; a type of hype that does not provide solution to the situation on the ground, but more to do with calculations for operations financing locally and abroad.

In a recent instance, one arm of the United Nations screamed that 100,000 people will die of starvation next year. A different group says a million will die.”

Shehu said such claims were untrue adding that while many have suffered from the Boko Haram insurgency in the North east, the Federal Government with support of various donor agencies is providing assistance to support livelihoods of those affected.

He said “While local and international humanitarian responders including the United Nations have done an immeasurable amount of efforts filling in the gaps wherever they existed, it is not true as these reports have indicated that 100,000 or even a million people will die because government is unable to provide care at IDPs camps.

“This country has a responsible government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari which is doing a lot to bring relief to the displaced people.

We do not see the reason for the theories and hyperbolic claims being made ostensibly to draw donor support by some of the aid agencies.”

Meanwhile, The Presidency last night said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration remained committed to ending food importation by 2019..

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said an agreement between Nigeria and Morocco, anchored by Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSAN) and a Moroccan company, OCP, would yield one million tons of fertiliser through local production next year.

According to Shehu, this will be a short term solution that will force the price of fertiliser from N8,000 to about N5,000.