Former Commissioner for Information, Rivers State, Dr. Austin Tam-George, was on Sunrise Daily on Monday, March 4, 2024.
The reported humanitarian food donation by war-torn Ukraine to Nigeria exposes serious economic and leadership problems in Nigeria, a former Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, Austin Tam-George, has said.
Tam-George, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, wondered why Nigeria should be receiving food aid from a country like Ukraine currently fighting a serious war with one of its neighbours, Russia.
The analyst said that Nigeria has good weather, soil conditions with the population to grow enough food within the country to avoid being at the mercy of others, especially Ukraine which has bigger problem such as war to contend with.
“Last week we got reports, headlines all over the country that Nigeria is receiving 25,000 tonnes of grains from Ukraine. At first, I thought that was sarcasm because why would a war-torn country like Ukraine be making humanitarian food donation to a country like Nigeria?
“So, it shows you the degree of problems. Nigeria has some of the best weather conditions, we have some of the best soil conditions, we have the population to grow massively into agriculture and to make sure we bring food sustainability to our people.
“Why should we be receiving grain from a war-torn country from Ukraine? So, these are massive indications that we have a serious economic crisis, but more importantly, we have a serious leadership crisis,” Tam-George said.
READ ALSO: It Is Disheartening That Ukraine Now Donates Food To Nigeria – Obi
The ex-commissioner said governments at all levels has a responsibility to respond to the food crisis in Nigeria.
With fuel subsidy removal, food prices have gone up, with the World Food Programme reporting that a 25,000 tonnes of wheat donation by Ukraine to Nigeria will assist in providing food to around 1.3 million Nigerians affected by soaring food prices in the North-Eastern part of the country.
The soaring food prices has also forced Nigerians in some states to the streets to protest the hardship. Some Nigerians looted a government warehouse on Sunday, while trucks loaded with food items are attacked and looted almost daily in parts of the country.
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