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WFP Says 1/8th Nigerians in Acute Hunger

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WFP Says 1/8th Nigerians in Acute Hunger

By: Michael Mike

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has lamented that a total of 24.8 million people, or 1 out of 8 individuals, are experiencing acute hunger this year in the country.

The UN agency while disclosing that this situation is prone in 26 states of the country and the capital, Abuja, said it is scaling up to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to 2.1 million people affected by conflict and in dire need of humanitarian assistance in the Northeast.

A statement on Saturday by the organisation read: “WFP is gravely concerned that years of armed conflict in northeast Nigeria is driving hunger and malnutrition, with millions in need of life-saving assistance and facing the risk of famine.

The statement added that the March Cadre Harmonisé projects that 4.3 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states face severe hunger during the peak of the lean season between June and August 2023, with almost600,000 are on the brink of catastrophe, insisting that these people will face emergency levels of food insecurity, with extremely high rates of acute malnutrition and mortality in the absence of a sustained scale-up of humanitarian assistance.

WFP lamented that ongoing conflict has affected the nutrition status of children on several fronts, with 2 million children in the region projected to suffer from acute malnutrition and cases of severe acute malnutrition among children have quadrupled to 700,000.

The UN agency said: “With more than 4.3 million people also in need of food assistance in northwest Nigeria, resources for the northeast have been increasingly squeezed.

“A total of 24.8 million people, or 1 out of 8 individuals, are experiencing acute hunger this year in Nigeria’s 26 states and the capital, Abuja.

WFP said: “The more people in need of urgent food aassistance who go unassisted, the greater the risk of starvation and death among the most vulnerable, and the more people will be forced to resort to coping mechanisms such as survival sex, selling possessions and child labour.”

It added that: “A lack of assistance also increases the risk of youth recruitment into armed groups, as well as displaced populations returning to inaccessible areas where they are beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance and other social services.

“Chronic Insecurity is preventing many people in the north-east from growing the food they need or earning an income. In the last year, conflict has left households unable to leave their homes due to an increase in movement restrictions, killings and abduction of civilians, particularly in Borno where the violence is concentrated.”

It insisted that: “Thousands of people are left with only one month’s food supply as households in conflict-affected areas rely on minimal income to purchase food. The hunger crisis worsens an already bad situation for many families struggling with economic hardship, surging inflation, impacts of Russia-Ukraine war, the currency redesign policy, slow post-COVID-19 recovery and unprecedented floods in 2022 which limited agricultural production and overall food availability.”

WFP however disclosed that it requires US$190 million over the next six months to provide lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable people, while raising the alarm that: “If urgent action is not taken, funding gaps mean that approximately four million people in the northeast will go without food assistance during the peak of the lean season.”

WFP Says 1/8th Nigerians in Acute Hunger

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VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution

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VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution

By: Michael Mike

Vice President Kashim Shettima has expressed deep grief over the passing of prominent Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata, saying the nation has lost an irreplaceable institution.

The late Dantata, an uncle of Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, passed away at the age of 94 in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Saturday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Mustapha Abdullahi Junaid, his Personal Private Secretary (PPS), who confirmed the death.

In a condolence message, Vice President Shettima praised the late businessman for his lifetime of service, describing him as “a living bridge that connected us to our past.

“We have not just lost a leader; we have lost an irreplaceable institution,” Senator Shettima said, describing Dantata as “one of the greatest titans in Nigeria’s philosophical history” whose departure marks the end of a vital chapter in the country’s economic and democratic evolution.

“In African tradition, when such an elderly person transitions, a vital chapter of our history departs with them. He was indeed among the great titans, a living bridge that connected us to our past,” VP Shettima added.

The Vice President extended heartfelt condolences to the Dantata family, expressing hopes that they would “find the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” even as he prayed that Almighty Allah would grant the deceased Jannatul Firdaus.

Born into the legendary Dantata family of Kano, Alhaji Aminu built on his father’s commercial legacy to become one of Nigeria’s most influential business figures. His empire spans construction, manufacturing, banking, agriculture, and the oil and gas sectors.

Beyond business, Dantata was renowned for his extensive philanthropic work, funding schools, mosques, health centres, and supporting widows and the underprivileged across Nigeria.

VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution

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Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting

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Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting

By: Michael Mike

The Senior Officials Meeting between Nigeria and the European Union (EU) will be held on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd July 2025 in Abuja to prepare for the upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting and to explore areas of cooperation.

A statement on Saturday by the Press Officer, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Modestus Chukwulaka, read: “The Delegation of European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS wishes to inform that the Senior Officials Meeting between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the European Union (EU) will be held on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd July 2025 in Abuja.

“The agenda of the very important meeting is to prepare for the upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting and to explore areas of cooperation.”

According to the statement, the Senior Officials Meeting will be co-chaired by the Regions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria, Ambassador Janet Olisa, Director, and the Deputy Managing Director for Africa Department, European External Action Service, European Union, Mr Mathieu Briens.

The statement revealed that the agenda of the meeting is expected to entail wide-ranging discussions that would focus on various aspects of the Nigeria – EU partnership, such as: Cooperation on multilateral and regional issues; Peace, Security and Governance; Humanitarian situation; Trade and Investment; Human Development: Health, Education, Social Protection; Science, technology, innovation and digital transition; Migration; Energy, climate change and green economy transition among others.

Nigeria and the European Union share a deep, long-standing partnership inspired by mutual values and interests as well as support for multilateralism and rule-based international order, the statement said.

Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting

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Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People

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Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People


…. Donates relief materials to displaced persons in Yelwata, IDP camp

By: Michael Mike

Former Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has charged former governors, legislators, traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Benue state to set aside rivalry, unite and act with urgency to save their people from incessant attacks and killings.

Waziri, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police and Principal Partner, Brookfield Chambers Abuja stated this on Saturday 28th June 2025 while donating relief materials to victims of the recent gunmen attacks in Yelwata community and displaced persons at the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

Some of the items donated under the banner of Women, Youth, Children and Crime Organisation (WYCCO), a non-governmental organization founded by her, include: bags of rice, sugar, tubers of yam and other household items.

She said: “This is no time for division. It is no time for political squabbling or ego-driven manoeuvring. Among us are men and women who have led this state — former governors, legislators, traditional rulers — individuals with influence and authority. The time has come to set aside our differences and stand united, for the sake of the ordinary Benue man, woman, and child.

“That is why I stand here today to make this urgent and heartfelt appeal to our leaders: cast aside rivalry, unite, and act. Act with urgency. Act with purpose. Because what we face now increasingly resembles a deliberate, coordinated effort to erase our people and our heritage.

“We must take heed of the words of Sir Winston Churchill, who once said:
‘Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them.’
Another of Churchill’s warnings is just as relevant to our present predicament:
‘If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed… you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.”

Waziri, while stating that her call was a build up to the earlier proposal by President Bola Tinubu during his recent visit Beforehand Benue, noted that meetings alone would not solve the problem, urging that: “But let us be sincere: peace will not come from meetings alone. To end the cycle of violence, we must confront its roots. Before the Yelwata massacre, communities in Gwer West, Apa, and Guma had already endured weeks of killings, kidnappings, and raids. These horrors did not emerge in a vacuum; they are symptoms of deeper issues.

“We must therefore confront the real causes — ethnic and religious tensions, unchecked banditry, and the rise of cultism as well as the abuse of illicit drugs. These forces must be tackled, along with the herder-farmer conflict, with honesty and courage. We cannot afford to keep going in circles. And there is no room for blame games. Our leaders — and indeed, all of us — must be pragmatic. So today, let us commit, as one people, to healing our wounds, reclaiming our land, and ensuring that never again will a child in Benue grow up in a camp instead of a home”

She said the development in Benue must be of “concern to all sons and daughters of Benue regardless of whether we live within its borders or far away in the diaspora to find out the root cause of these attacks with a view to proferring solutions that will bring an end to these barbaric acts”

Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People

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