President of the Leadership Institute in Nigeria, Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher, yesterday, raised the alarm over the deepening humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, revealing that over 350,000 children were suffering from severe malnutrition, with many at risk of permanent stunting.

This comes as the Leadership Institute designs alternatives to educate children displaced by conflict, particularly in Benue State, aiming to equip the young learners with essential skills for a better future.

Hagher disclosed this in Abuja during the 2025 Leadership Public Lecture, Excellence Awards, and Appeal Fund for the Educational Rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Children in Benue State.

He lamented that the country treated the children as mere statistics instead of human beings with dreams and rights. Hagher said: “We are creating a generation of children with no purpose. The statistics are frightening. Right now in Benue State, close to 350,000 children in IDP camps are suffering malnutrition.

“Many are in danger of becoming permanently stunted. Children are being born who may not grow beyond three and a half feet because their mothers have no food. Yet we look at them as statistics.

“We do not see them as human beings, human beings whom the country owes a responsibility to nourish, to grow, to help dream again. But they are no longer dreaming. A seven-year-old child today knows how to dodge bullets.”

He said thousands of children in IDP camps were not only starving but were also battling trauma from years of witnessing killings, abductions, rape, and violent displacements, adding: “Children are being born who may not grow beyond three and a half feet because their mothers have no food.”

In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, former President of the Senate, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, reflected on his long-standing engagement with the President of the Leadership Institute Nigeria.

Professor Iyorwuese Hagher, and commended his perseverance in keeping leadership discussions in Africa at the forefront.
Speaking earlier, the former Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, lamented the persistent crises in Nigeria, urging a focus on their root causes.

She recounted her time as a police commissioner, noting how some criminals rationalised theft by exploiting systemic corruption, bribing officials at every level, and using safe havens abroad, which allowed them to evade justice and return to positions of power.

Waziri called for collective action, urging society to support initiatives that provide aid to victims and address the issues at their source, stressing that Nigeria’s immense human and material resources were being undermined by greed and corruption.