ActionAid seeks urgent security, food reforms
By Felicia Imohimi
ActionAid Nigeria’s General Assembly has called on the Federal Government to urgently reform the national security architecture to address widespread violence across the country.
This includes persistent herder attacks, civilian casualties from military airstrikes, and the violent suppression of protests.
The call was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the assembly’s review of the state of the nation in Abuja.
The document, signed by the Convener of the General Assembly, Dr Steve Onya, noted that in spite the ongoing implementation of the “Renewed Hope” agenda, millions of Nigerians continued to face severe economic hardship.
Onya expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in the country, citing economic instability, rising food prices, worsening inequality, high inflation, growing insecurity, and governance failures.
Also speaking, Ms Rabi Isma, Chairperson, Board of Directors of ActionAid Nigeria, said insecurity in the North Central region had contributed to rising food prices, while the country’s increasing debt burden posed a serious threat to economic sustainability.
She urged the federal government, along with the Plateau and Benue state governments, to declare a state of emergency on security and adopt a coordinated, civilian-sensitive security strategy to end the ongoing violence.
Isma stressed the need to ensure the protection of both farming communities and herders in order to sustain agricultural productivity and reduce conflict.
She noted that although the federal government had declared a national emergency on food security, there had been no major policy shift, increase in funding, or implementation of tangible actions to tackle the crisis.
She called for immediate scale-up of targeted food and livelihood interventions in conflict-affected and food-insecure areas, especially in the North Central and North-East regions.
“These interventions should include food aid, cash transfers, subsidised farm inputs, and support for women-led cooperatives,” she said.
She emphasised that such efforts must be community-driven, transparent, and insulated from political interference to ensure maximum impact.
On the state of education, Isma decried the persistent technical failures and safety lapses affecting major examination bodies like JAMB and WAEC, warning that such issues were undermining students’ academic prospects.
She also raised alarm over the country’s strained public health system, citing the spread of Lassa fever to 18 states, the emergence of a new polio variant in Kano, and the recent flooding in Niger State, which claimed over 200 lives.
Isma expressed concern over the continued violence in Plateau and Benue states, noting that the government’s delay to respond adequately had led to mass displacement and psychological trauma among affected communities.
She recommended that both federal and state governments increase investment in food security and public health infrastructure.
According to her, this should include the development of resilient health systems, local vaccine production, expanded immunisation coverage, and grassroots-level disease prevention.
“Nigeria must reduce its over-reliance on donor support and stop limiting its response to publishing fatality figures,” she added. (NAN)
Edited by Tosin Kolade
