The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has dismissed UN report that Nigeria is among countries suffered most from high levels of food insecurity in the world in 2018.
The organization said in a statement in Abuja on Thursday that the report was totally off the mark, unverifiable and unreliable.
The statement was issued by its Chairman and Secretary, Messrs Niyi Akinsiji and Cassidy Madueke.
The group said the report, released by United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, was untenable.
It explained that the report was untenable bearing in mind that under the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, there has been an increase in agricultural activities leading to sufficiency in food production and availability.
“Even in the instance of the Northeast where there are internally Displaced Persons, there had been deliberate measures taken by the federal government to ensure adequate food for the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.
“We want to also note that several intervention agencies are cooperating with the federal government in ensuring adequate food for the people in the war affected areas,’’ the statement said.
According to the group, the agencies and institutions that are cooperating with government in ensuring adequate food for the people include National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), UNHCR, UNICEF, ECOWAS, UNDP and NIMASA.
The statement noted that in view of all these interventions, “it runs contrary to reason that an organisation like the United Nations, or any of its agencies would lump Nigeria with countries where there are full blown wars.
“We therefore consider the report as baseless, lacking in depth and calculated to diminish the efforts of the Buhari administration to reposition the country in all sectors”.
The statement said the challenge of food insecurity has been drastically reduced and in some cases totally eliminated with the reduction in the number of Internally Displaced Persons and their camps in the Northeast.
It added that the reduction of the IDPs and their camps in North East was based on the proactive measures put in place by the federal government.
“For instance, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, the number of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria has reduced to about 417,000, while countries like Ethiopia and Syria account for 1.4 million and 1.2 million IDPs, respectively.
“Nigeria definitely has no place among the countries cited in the report,” the statement said. – NAN.
