- By Halimah Olamide
Nigerians are now used to tragedies on a daily basis.
This was the response by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election Mr. Peter Obi.
Obi stated this in his response to Thursday’s stampede in Nasarawa state which led to the death of some students.
NPO Reports that the students had gone to the Convocation Square of the Nasarawa State University where the government was distributing free rice.
“Somehow, disheartening and tragic happenings have become our daily companions as a people.
“In yet another very sad development, I am disheartened by the reports of the death of some students from Nasarawa State University (NSUK) in a stampede while struggling for food palliative from the state government,” Obi said in a tweet.
He recalled that Just a month ago, about 7 Nigerians died in a similar situation, losing their lives while trying to buy rice cheaper from a customs warehouse in Lagos.
“The very worsening level of hunger in our nation has continued to claim the lives of innocent citizens,” Obi noted adding that a county with arable lands does not have to be pushed into becoming a palliative-distributing one.
He reminded all that a report by UNICEF indicated that about 31.5 million Nigerians will face acute hunger and severe food crisis between June and August this year.
“This is, unfortunately, happening in a country that is richly blessed in human and natural resources, with vast arable lands for agriculture. Nigeria should have no business with hunger and poverty if we the leaders were caring enough. It is unimaginable how we have sadly descended to a level where people now take unthinkable risks in order to survive.”
He said it is regrettable that students sent to schools to study are becoming victims of disorganized palliative distribution.
“I do hope that these ugly incidents will nudge our government into taking urgent measures to end the current food insecurity,by moving the nation from consumption to production. We cannot be accepting food aids from war-torn Ukraine, when we have the energetic population and vast uncultivated lands to feed our nation and the rest of Africa.”