Rising food, fuel costs putting nutritious meals beyond reach of families – Atiku

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has raised concerns over the rising cost of food, fuel and transportation, saying the trend is making nutritious meals increasingly unaffordable for many Nigerian families.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), spoke in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

He described the country’s child malnutrition figures as one of the most troubling consequences of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its Consumer Price Index report released on Wednesday, put Nigeria’s food inflation rate at 19.57 per cent.

Atiku cited figures presented by nutrition experts showing that 41.1 per cent of Nigerian children under five are stunted, while 19.2 per cent are severely stunted.

According to him, the prevalence of stunting rises to 58.2 per cent in the North-West, while nearly two million children are reportedly suffering from severe acute malnutrition, with only about two in 10 receiving treatment.

“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,” he said.

Atiku said children may not understand inflation figures but experience the impact of rising living costs through the availability and quality of food at home.

“A child does not understand inflation figures. A child only knows whether there is food on the table,” he said.

He warned that inadequate access to nutritious food could have long-term consequences for children’s physical development.

“When nutritious food moves beyond the reach of millions of families, the consequences eventually appear in the bodies of our children,” Atiku said.

The former vice-president also linked rising energy and transportation costs to the increasing prices of food and other household necessities.

“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,” he said.

“And eventually, the additional cost arrives at the dinner table.”

Atiku said economic policies should be assessed by their impact on the ability of ordinary Nigerians to afford basic necessities.

“Economic policy must ultimately answer a very simple question: Can the ordinary Nigerian afford to live?” he said.

He called for expanded treatment for severely malnourished children and stronger maternal and child nutrition programmes, with nutrition funding targeted at communities with the greatest needs.

“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,” he stated.

Atiku said his economic agenda would focus on reducing energy, transportation and production costs, strengthening domestic production, restoring purchasing power and creating greater financial room for Nigerian families.