We are at war with hunger, poverty, malnutrition in north east – Ndume

Senator Ali Ndume on Friday appealed to well-meaning individuals, non-governmental agencies and international communities to help tackle challenges of hunger, poverty and malnutrition in Nigeria’s North East region.

Ndume, who is representing Borno South Senatorial zone, made the appeal while answering questions from State House correspondents after joining President Muhammadu Buhari in performing the 2-raka’at Juma’at prayer in the State House.

The senator, who noted that the war against Boko Haram in the North East was almost over, however said that the region was now faced with hunger, poverty and malnutrition.’’

He stated that current efforts by the Federal Government to tackle insurgency had been yielding positive results, adding that immediate measures should be taken by stakeholders to ameliorate the suffering of the people in the zone.

The fight against Boko Haram, with the determination and seriousness from this government, is almost over.We are facing another war and that is fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty, and that too, government is bracing up to it.

We are crying out, we are looking up to you to help us in the North East particularly.Particularly in Borno, the aftermath of the insurgency, which is almost over, is the issue of hunger, poverty and malnutrition.

For three years our people who mostly depended on subsistence farming, did not go to their farms, and government alone cannot feed the whole North East or Borno state alone, and that is our greatest challenge.

We are calling on all non-governmental agencies, individuals, all Nigerians and even the international community to join hands in helping our people no matter how little it is.’’

Ndume described the current face-off in the House of Representatives over accusations and counter-accusations of budget padding as “media creation.’’

The senator, who said such face-off was unnecessary, advised all parties involved to channel their grievances through the internal legislative mechanisms for amicable settlement.