By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – The Nigeria Youth Forum (NYF) has identified systemic corruption as the primary driver of Nigeria’s worsening food insecurity crisis, warning that without urgent action, over 25 million Nigerians could face acute hunger in the near future.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Comrade Toriah Olajide Filani, the national president of NYF, expressed deep concern over the diversion of agricultural machinery, weak budgetary commitments, and poor oversight of key interventions.

He described Nigeria’s reliance on food imports and international aid as ‘a national tragedy and policy failure,’ despite the country’s vast arable land resources.

Filani revealed that only 35 percent of Nigeria’s cultivable land is currently in use, largely by smallholder farmers operating at subsistence levels without access to modern tools or support services.

He criticized the persistent underfunding of the agricultural sector, noting that Nigeria allocated just 1.32 percent of its 2024 national budget to agriculture, far below the 10 percent benchmark recommended by the African Union under the Maputo and Malabo Declarations.

“Government may be trying on paper, but the reality is different in the fields. Agricultural machineries meant for community use are being diverted by individuals and sold off. These acts sabotage every effort aimed at achieving food sufficiency,” Filani stated.

While acknowledging the federal government’s recent increase in the 2025 agriculture budget to ₦826 billion, a 128 percent rise from 2024, Filani emphasized that mere allocation is insufficient without effective implementation, transparency, and impact measurement.

“What we have is a pattern of underinvestment, where only 15 to 19 percent of what is budgeted ends up reaching the sector. The rest is either lost to bureaucratic bottlenecks or corruption,” he said.

The NYF president highlighted the strategic role of agriculture in addressing youth unemployment, boosting GDP, and tackling rural insecurity. He cited states like Kano, where sustained investments in agricultural infrastructure have led to fewer incidences of rural insecurity compared to regions battling insurgency and banditry.

“Where young people are engaged in farming, they are less likely to become involved in criminal activity,” Filani explained.

He further lamented that Nigeria’s slow pace of agricultural reform is stalling broader economic progress.

“We cannot industrialize Nigeria until we develop the agricultural sector, as well as our metal industries. The process of industrialization is being delayed because we have failed to lay the right foundation through a solid and self-sufficient agro-economic base,” he stated.

To reverse the trend, the NYF called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a national agricultural emergency and unveil a comprehensive, youth-focused, and innovation-driven agricultural revival plan.

The group recommended the formation of youth-led agricultural cooperatives, the expansion of mechanized farming schemes, and the establishment of productivity benchmarks for each state.

Additionally, the NYF urged the creation of a transparent public dashboard to monitor the delivery of agricultural projects and the implementation of budgetary allocations in real time.

Filani warned, “Until we begin to measure impact and enforce accountability, agricultural reforms will remain televised propaganda without grassroots results.”

Citing data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the NYF cautioned that Nigeria’s current trajectory could deepen poverty and insecurity while stifling economic growth, industrial capacity, and global competitiveness. Nigeria’s ranking of 103rd out of 121 countries in the 2023 Global Hunger Index highlights the urgency of the situation.

“Nigeria should be the food basket of Africa, not a nation of hungry people sitting on fertile soil,” Filani added.