End severe hunger in Nigeria or prepare for more fatal stampedes – NANS to FG

The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has called on the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to find urgent solutions to the deteriorating economic situation in the country, particularly the severe hunger walloping Nigerians.

The student body warned that failure to fix hunger in the nation may lead to more fatal stampedes in the country as Nigerians scamper for free food.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Clerk of the Senate, NANS National, Abdul-Yekinn Odunayo, on Sunday, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Odunayo who described the fatal stampede incidents in the Oyo State capital, Ibadan, the FCT, Abuja and Anambra State where scores of Nigerians, especially children lost their lives as “unfortunate and national disgrace”, said the ugly situation would have been averted if the Federal Government had since addressed the parlour economic situation with its attendant poverty and hunger.

He pointed out that Nigerians are hardworking people who rarely resort to scampering for freebies, insisting hunger in the country is real and urgent steps must be taken to address it before more innocent lives are lost.

Odunayo said it is the failure on the part of the government at all levels to allow the situation in the country to degenerate without any meaningful solutions to ameliorate the poverty confronting Nigerians.

While bemoaning what he described as a “nonchalant and insensitive” disposition of the FG to the plights of Nigerians, Odunayo said no amount of condolences and compensation can atone for the lives of the people lost during the stampede.

He said, “Arrest the sufferings and hunger in the land, obviously the root cause of the stampedes that occurred simultaneously at different states of the country including the FCT is as a result of suffering and how deep-rooted poverty is on many Nigerians.

“Nigerians have never had it this bad. The situation in the country is really tough and it should be a serious concern for a government that knows its onions. We are tired of excuses and palliatives that could not even reach the poor of the poor. If truly the government had empowered many Nigerians through various interventions, the situation wouldn’t have been this critical.

“We, hereby, implore the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Tinubu and state governments in the country, to wake up to their constitutional duties and give breadth to the already asphyxiated economy. Hunger is real and poverty is real. No region of the nation is immune to this hunger situation. Therefore, urgent measures must be taken to reverse this ugly trend, otherwise, the government should prepare for more hunger-induced fatal stampedes across the nation.

Meanwhile, the student body commiserated with the families of the stampede victims, expressing hope that the situation in the country will be improved so that Nigerians will stop dying like chickens due to hunger and poverty.

End severe hunger in Nigeria or prepare for more fatal stampedes – NANS to FG