APC Chief Urges Tinubu To Address Hunger, Starvation

Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, has urged President Bola Tinubu to address the issue of hunger and starvation that is ravaging the country to save the masses and provide them with a decent living standard.

Oyintiloye told journalists in Osogbo on Sunday that Nigerians were hungry and living below the poverty line.

The APC chieftain stated that many households were finding it difficult to eat three square meals due to the country’s current poor economy.

Oyintiloye also urged the president not to ignore the United Nations’ prediction that 82 million Nigerians, or approximately 64% of the country’s population, will go hungry by 2030.

He went on to say that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data revealed that the country’s food inflation rate reached a record high of 40.66 per cent in May, surpassing the previous month’s 40.53 increase.

Oyintiloye, a former member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), also stated that common household food items were becoming out of reach for the average person due to price increases.

The APC chieftain stated that despite Nigerians working hard under various dehumanising conditions, their earnings were insufficient to support them and their families due to inflation.

According to him, despite the abundance of natural and human resources, successive governments have failed to propel the economy forward.

He claimed that corruption and the tiers of government’s over-reliance on the crude oil revenue-sharing system were impeding their ability to run a productive and self-sufficient economy for the benefit of the masses.

Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, stated that while there was no doubt that the president was doing everything he could to salvage the situation through various intervention programmes, the effects of such interventions were far from satisfactory.

He claimed that the prices of basic household foods such as rice, beans, garri, spaghetti, and others were skyrocketing and becoming unaffordable to the masses.

Oyintiloye lamented that, despite the president’s best efforts, food and other essentials prices had continued to rise.

“I will urge the president to declare a state of emergency in the country to combat hunger, starvation, and poverty.

“Hunger is a threat to national peace, so the president must act quickly,” he said.

Oyintiloye also stated that the government should implement a price control mechanism to counter the sharp practices of market traders.

He claimed that many traders were taking advantage of the economy to exploit buyers and that there was an urgent need to rein in their excesses.

However, Oyintiloye urged the president to consider reopening the Benin Republic border for food importation to alleviate the country’s food crisis.

He also stated that the issue of insufficient farm inputs and insecurity must be addressed for farmers to cultivate their various farmlands and that good incentives should be made available to agriculture to attract younger farmers.

Oyintiloye also appealed to Nigerians to continue to support the president, saying that with all the various ongoing economic intervention programmes, the country would rise again.