Northeast Nigeria Faces Man-Made Famine
According to the latest United Nations Children’s Fund statistics, over 250,000 Northeast Nigerians suffer from severe malnutrition, and nearly 75,000 children are expected to die next year from malnutrition without critical medical intervention. Since early 2015, the Nigerian government, in collaboration with forces from Chad, Niger, Cameroon, and the African Union, has been involved in a massive offensive against Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group based in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. In February 2015, the African coalition of forces launched an offensive against the terrorist organization, implementing a food blockade to rescue captives and reclaiming numerous insurgent-held villages by the end of the year. However, the focus on the eradication of Boko Haram has overshadowed the pressing humanitarian needs in recovering villages. In the Boko Haram stronghold of Borno State, two children were found paralyzed by polio - the first confirmed African polio case in over 2 years.
Over three million Northeastern Nigerians have been displaced by the ongoing fighting. International organizations as well as the Nigerian government have underestimated the severity of the situation. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently admitted the international community’s late realization of the gravity of the crisis. Earlier this month, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari claimed that “residents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States… go about their daily business in relative safety. Commuters can travel… without fear.”
International humanitarian teams have begun to work in conjunction with governmental assistance agencies in the Northeast. This summer, aid groups, including the UN and Doctors Without Borders, gained access to recovering cities after a safety-related suspension of work in the region. The International Rescue Committee has deployed mobile outreach teams to provide urgent necessities to less-accessible populations, and UNICEF has doubled its amount of aid for Nigeria to $115 million. As the Buhari administration continues to promote an anti-corruption and anti-terrorism platform, greater importance and attention must be allocated to the Northeastern crisis to address and rectify the man-made famine.