NYF: Corruption Behind Nigeria’s Food Crisis

The Nigeria Youth Forum (NYF) has spotlighted systemic corruption as the central factor exacerbating Nigeria’s food insecurity crisis. In a recent statement, NYF President Comrade Toriah Olajide Filani emphasized that without prompt and decisive action, over 25 million Nigerians could face acute hunger in the near future.

Filani criticized the diversion of agricultural machinery intended for communal use, weak budgetary commitments, and poor oversight of key interventions.  He described Nigeria’s reliance on food imports and international aid as a national tragedy, especially given the country’s vast arable land resources.

“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,” Filani noted.  He further highlighted 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.

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 stated.

The NYF president underscored 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.

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 concluded.