Rising child malnutrition evidence of cost-of-living crisis -Atiku

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has described Nigeria’s worsening child-malnutrition figures as evidence of the country’s cost-of-living crisis, warning that rising food and energy costs are threatening the growth and future of millions of children.

Atiku, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said economic hardship was no longer merely emptying the pockets of parents but increasingly affecting their ability to provide adequate nutrition for their children.

He cited recent figures presented by nutrition experts indicating that 41.1 per cent of Nigerian children under five are stunted, with 19.2 per cent severely stunted, while the prevalence rises to 58.2 per cent in the North-West.

He added that nearly two million children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, with only about two in every 10 receiving treatment.

The former Vice President said the figures should be considered against the pressure rising food, transportation and energy costs are placing on household budgets.

“This is the most heartbreaking face of the cost-of-living crisis. Behind every statistic is a Nigerian mother struggling to decide what her children can eat, how much they can eat and how often they can eat.

“A child does not understand inflation figures. A child only knows whether there is food on the table. When nutritious food moves beyond the reach of millions of families, the consequences eventually appear in the bodies of our children.

“Today, the country is being confronted with figures that should shock the conscience of every leader,” he said.

Atiku also cited National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures putting food inflation at 19.57 per cent, saying households were still grappling with the cumulative effects of high prices.

He said the relationship between energy costs and household welfare underscored the need to reduce the cost of energy, arguing that increases in petrol prices feed into transportation and the prices of goods and services.

“When fuel becomes expensive, transporting tomatoes from the farm becomes expensive. Taking rice to the market becomes expensive. Moving children to school becomes expensive. Running the neighbourhood grinding machine becomes expensive. Powering the small shop becomes expensive.

“And eventually, the additional cost arrives at the dinner table. That is why I refuse to accept an economic philosophy in which government simply watches prices rise and tells struggling citizens to endure,” he said.

Atiku reiterated that his proposed intervention in the petroleum sector, if elected President, would be a production subsidy rather than a return to subsidising imported petrol.

“My position is straightforward: support what Nigeria produces and refines, lower domestic production costs, and ensure that the benefit reaches the Nigerian consumer.

“This is not an import subsidy. If you do not refine in Nigeria, you do not qualify. The subsidy follows the barrel refined in Nigeria. Produce here. Refine here. Create jobs here. Pay less here,” he said.

According to him, reducing energy costs is critical because transportation and energy expenses affect agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, markets and household expenditure.

“My production-subsidy proposal is therefore not simply a petrol policy. It is part of a broader affordability programme.

“I want the farmer to spend less getting produce to market. I want the trader to spend less transporting goods. I want the bus driver to spend less on fuel. I want parents to have more money left after transportation so that they can put better food on the table,” he said.

Atiku called for expanded treatment for severely malnourished children, stronger maternal and child nutrition programmes and greater accountability in the utilisation of nutrition budgets.

“Economic policy must ultimately answer a very simple question: Can the ordinary Nigerian afford to live? The nutrition figures before us make that question even more urgent.

“We must expand treatment for severely malnourished children, strengthen maternal and child nutrition programmes and ensure that nutrition budgets actually reach communities. But we must also confront the economic pressures that make adequate diets increasingly difficult for struggling households.

“We cannot build a strong country on the bodies of hungry children. We cannot celebrate economic statistics while mothers are cutting meals and children are denied the nutrition they require to grow.

“My objective is clear: lower the cost of energy, lower transportation and production costs, strengthen Nigerian production, restore purchasing power and give families breathing room again,” he stated.

I retained the strong “hungry children” quote for the closing because it gives the story a natural, forceful ending without turning the reporter’s voice into advocacy.