When Empty Stomachs Become a Security Threat
By Comfort Pius, Jos
Nigeria is fighting many battles at once: terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal violence and economic hardship. Yet beneath all these challenges lies a quieter danger that receives far less attention. Hunger is rapidly becoming one of the country’s greatest security threats.
Across markets in Jos, Kano, Maiduguri, Lagos and Port Harcourt, the story is the same. Families who once bought a bag of rice now buy paint buckets. Parents who could afford three meals a day now struggle to provide two. Workers receive salaries that disappear before the month is half over. The crisis is no longer about discomfort; it is about survival.
READ ALSO: FG Receives Final AGROW Report, Moves to Implement $500m World Bank Agricultural Programme
The warning signs are already visible. The World Food Programme recently reported that hunger levels in parts of northern Nigeria have reached their worst point in nearly a decade. Millions of people are struggling to access adequate food as conflict, displacement and rising prices continue to squeeze households.
This should alarm every policymaker because hunger rarely remains an economic problem for long. When people cannot feed themselves, frustration grows. When frustration grows, social stability weakens. History has repeatedly shown that societies with widespread hunger become more vulnerable to crime, violence and political unrest.
In many rural communities, farmers can no longer cultivate their land safely. Fear of bandits, kidnappers and armed attacks has forced some families to abandon farms that once produced maize, beans, millet and vegetables. The result is predictable: lower food production, higher prices and deeper hardship. Consumers suffer in the cities while producers suffer in the villages. It is a vicious cycle that feeds insecurity from both
For young Nigerians, the situation is particularly dangerous. Millions are unemployed or underemployed. Many have energy, education and ambition but few opportunities. When hunger enters such a landscape, desperation becomes a powerful recruiter. Criminal networks, kidnappers and violent groups often find willing hands among people who feel they have been abandoned by the system. A hungry young man may not begin with criminal intentions, but persistent deprivation can push people toward choices they would never have considered in better times.
This is why the debate about national security must go beyond guns and checkpoints. Security is also about whether citizens can afford food. A nation where mothers skip meals so their children can eat is already facing a security emergency. A nation where farmers fear their own fields is confronting a security failure. A nation where graduates roam the streets hungry cannot expect lasting peace.
To be fair, government has introduced various interventions, including food distribution, agricultural support schemes and social
protection programmes. But the scale of the crisis has outpaced the response. Relief that reaches a few thousand households cannot solve a problem affecting millions. Nigerians need policies that reduce food prices, protect farming communities, improve rural roads, expand irrigation and create jobs that put purchasing power back into people’s pockets.
State governments also have a role to play. States with fertile land should treat agriculture as a security priority, not merely a budget item. Supporting local food production, securing farming corridors and investing in storage facilities can help stabilize prices and reduce dependence on food transported over long distances.
The truth is uncomfortable but unavoidable: a hungry population is an unstable population. No amount of security spending can guarantee peace if citizens are increasingly unable to eat. Hunger breeds anger, weakens trust in institutions and creates fertile ground for crime and extremism.
Nigeria still has the resources, the farmland and the human capacity to reverse this trend. What is needed is urgency. Leaders must begin to see food security as national security. The farmer in Bokkos, the trader in Jos, the teacher in Kaduna and the mechanic in Lagos are all connected by the same question: can they still afford to feed their families?
If the answer continues to be “barely,” then hunger will remain more than a humanitarian concern. It will become the threat that quietly undermines the nation from within. And by the time we recognize its full danger, the cost of ignoring empty stomachs may be far greater than the cost of confronting the crisis today.