Whilst endorsing the call for an immediate cessation of war in Gaza between Israelis and Hamas fighters as canvassed by president Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian President has been urged to also declare immediate ceasefire on his government’s continuous unleashing of intolerably harsh economic hardships on Nigerians.
This was even as the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) reminded President Tinubu that there are millions of Nigerian children who currently suffer violence, hunger, deprivation, poverty, and sudden deaths like the children of Palestinians in Gaza just as the Rights group attributed the heightened state of poverty, deprivation been suffered by millions of Nigerians to the government’s devaluation of the naira and the constant hikes in the pump price of petrol.
Making the observation is the civil rights advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) In a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, just as the rights group stated that the biting economic adversities unleashed by the devaluation of the naira and the constant hikes in the costs of living and of petrol have turned millions of Nigerian household into destitution, hunger, starvation and deprivation just like the population in Palestinian Gaza Strip.
HURIWA also asserted that if the security forces are not able to combat the newly emerged terrorist group in sokoto, and kebbi, then many more Nigerian families would face uncertain future even as children would bear the devastating impacts of the activities of the new terrorist group: Lukarawas.
HURIWA recalled that President Bola Tinubu had called for an immediate end to the prolonged Israeli aggression in Gaza, emphasizing the urgent need for a peaceful resolution.
A statement released Monday by Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on information, stated that Tinubu made this appeal during the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The president expressed grave concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, noting that “the conflict in Palestine has persisted for far too long, inflicting immeasurable suffering.”
Tinubu urged an immediate ceasefire, reaffirming Nigeria’s support for a two-state solution that would allow Israelis and Palestinians to coexist with security and dignity.
“The conflict in Palestine has endured for far too long, bringing immense suffering to countless lives,” the statement reads. “As representatives of nations that uphold justice, dignity, and the sanctity of human life, we are morally obligated to work together to end this conflict,” President Tinubu said.
Whilst the Rights group said stopping the war in Gaza between Israelis and Hamas fighters should be a top priority of the international community, it however reminded the Nigerian leader that millions of people in Maiduguri, North East and in the entire North West have endured over twelve years of persistent terrorist attacks which have produced many children in destitution and deprivation.
The Rights group said the immediate priority of the Nigerian government in international meetings should be to highlight the dire existential adversities confronting and more particularly the seemingly unending terrorist attacks and then seek for international collaboration to achieve a successful war on terror.
The Rights group said the best ceasefire call is for president Tinubu to declare an immediate cessation of inflicting of immeasurable economic sufferings through poorly crafted and hurriedly implemented economic policies.
“Does President Tinubu know that an estimated 3 million people (59 per cent children) are internally displaced in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States in Nigeria’s northeast; Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina States in the northwest; and Benue State in north-central Nigeria. The proportion of displaced people living in camps is 45 per cent in the northeast; 12 per cent in the northwest; and 38 per cent in Benue State. Displacement is primarily due to protracted armed conflict in its fifteenth year in the northeast, armed violence (banditry and abduction) in the northwest.
Armed conflict in northeast Nigeria continues to adversely affect the lives and prospects of 7.7 million people, 60 per cent of them children”.
HURIWA further reminded the president that on November 5th, 2024, it was estimated that an additional one million children in Nigeria will be suffering from acute malnutrition by April next year without urgent action as extreme flooding, escalating violence and rampant food shortages fuel a deepening hunger crisis, Save the Children said.
“Also, the analysis of new hunger data from Cadre Harmonisé—the leading regional authority on the severity of hunger crises in the Sahel and West Africa—showed that 5.4 million children are now at risk of facing acute malnutrition by next April, a 25% increase compared to the 4.4 this past April.
Among them, about 1.8 million could be experiencing Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) – the deadliest form of malnutrition that compromises children’s immune systems and turns otherwise treatable illnesses, such as diarrhea, potentially lethal. This represents an alarming 80% increase in SAM cases.”
“Mr. President, Sir, about 31.8 million people were estimated to be facing crisis or worse acute food insecurity. Next year it’s predicted that 33 million people in Nigeria will not know where their next meal will come from, including over 16 million children. Hunger has risen sharply in Nigeria in recent years, up from about 7% of the population analysed by the UN in 2020 to 15% currently.
Besides, HURIWA recalled that as at September 9th, 2024, Nigeria’s education system is said to be facing an alarming crisis, with 10.2 million children of primary school age, and another 8.1 million of junior secondary school age out of school.
HURIWA urges the President to ceasefire on the implementation of harsh economic policies because even the World Bank that dictates to it the so called economic reforms, has the following to say about the current Nigerian situation, thus: “Nominal earnings haven’t kept up with inflation, pushing another 10miillion Nigerians into poverty in 2023, Based on World Bank projections, about 40.7 percent of Nigerians are estimated to live below the international poverty line by the end of 2024”.
*Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). November 12th 2024.
