Northern Nigeria remains the epicenter of poverty in the country, a troubling reality that casts a long shadow over Nigeria’s development aspirations. Despite successive promises and high-profile interventions, the region continues to record the highest poverty statistics in the nation. This is a failure not only of policy but of leadership.
According to the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index Survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, 65% of Nigeria’s 133 million poor people reside in the North. States like Sokoto, Jigawa, and Zamfara post poverty rates of over 80%, with Sokoto alarmingly leading at 91%. Desertification, insecurity, and poor governance have left millions jobless, displaced, and without access to basic social services.
In response to these challenges, the Federal Government established various social investment programs, with the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) as a flagship initiative. It was designed to tackle poverty structurally by improving school enrollment and child nutrition. Yet, eight months into the current administration, the program is yet to take off. In its absence, school attendance continues to decline in many poor communities, and childhood malnutrition remains rampant.
What makes this failure even more confounding is the regional representation within the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development. The senior minister, junior minister, and head of the NHGSFP are all from Northern Nigeria. One would expect that with such representation, the North would receive focused, urgent attention. Instead, we have seen a worrying trend: much talk, very little action. The airwaves are filled with announcements, media briefings, and promises of reform, but on the ground, the people suffer.
The 2025 national budget allocated N100 billion to the school feeding program. But so far, there has been no clarity on how or when this fund will be disbursed. Reports from community schools across the North suggest that no food vendors have been mobilized, and no meals are being served. If the figures are available, and the leadership is from the North, then why is Northern poverty still deepening?
The legacy of the previous administration under President Muhammadu Buhari, who popularized the school feeding initiative, is being squandered. Today, under the banner of a “Renewed Hope” agenda, we are left asking: what exactly is being renewed? Hope certainly isn’t one of them.
This is not a matter of politics but of moral responsibility. The children going to school hungry, the farmers losing their lands to desertification, and the women struggling to feed their families deserve more than policy documents and media briefings. They deserve action.
The Ministry and its leadership must be held accountable. Eight months is more than enough time to roll out a school feeding program. If leadership cannot demonstrate results in an area where they themselves hail from, what should the rest of the country expect?
“When leadership hails from the heart of the crisis but the suffering only deepens, it is no longer a failure of policy—it is a betrayal of the people.”
The time for excuses is over. It is time for measurable, visible interventions. The poor of Northern Nigeria are not asking for favors; they are demanding their rights. Food for their children. Jobs for their youth. Dignity for their communities.
This is a call not only to the government but also to civil society, the media, and citizens to demand transparency, speed, and sincerity. Northern Nigeria deserves better. The country deserves better.
Let us move from rhetoric to results.
This editorial was written in the interest of public accountability and social justice.
