The north of Africa’s most populous nation is sliding toward catastrophe. The World Food Programme now predicts 35 million people will face acute hunger next year, with thousands in Borno State already on the edge of outright famine.
A perfect storm is brewing.
Violence Returns with a Vengeance
Jihadist groups and bandit gangs have unleashed a new wave of terror. Farms are burned, livestock stolen, and entire communities displaced.
In a single week this month, over 360 students, teachers and churchgoers were dragged from their schools and places of worship across three states. Farmers who once fed millions now abandon their land, terrified of the next raid.
Prices Skyrocket, Plates Stay Empty
President Tinubu’s economic reforms have slashed subsidies and floated the naira. The IMF applauds; ordinary families starve.
A bag of rice has tripled in price in months. During the lean season, when stored grain runs out, most households have no money left to buy food on the market. One meal a day has become a luxury.
Global Aid Vanishes Overnight
Major donors, led by the United States under the new Trump administration and followed by several European countries, have sharply reduced humanitarian budgets.
The WFP lost critical funding and was forced to shut 150 of its 500 nutrition centres in the northeast in July. Overnight, more than 300,000 children lost treatment. Malnutrition rates shot from “serious” to “critical” in weeks.
Borno: Ground Zero of the Crisis
In the state where the insurgency began 16 years ago, up to 15,000 people are expected to reach “catastrophic hunger” the technical threshold for famine by mid-2026. Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM has now carried out its first confirmed attack inside Nigeria, proving the threat is spreading faster than ever.
One Million Lives Hanging by a Thread
Nearly a million people in the northeast still depend on monthly WFP rations. With funding drying up and violence driving farmers away, those rations are running out. Mothers watch their children grow thinner by the day while the next harvest remains months away.
A Dire Warning from the Front Line
WFP Nigeria director David Stevenson issued a chilling alert: “Every week brings more attacks and higher prices. Families are being pushed past breaking point. Without urgent funding and security, next year will be devastating.”
The lean season May to September is still six months away. But for millions of parents in the north, famine has already knocked on the door.
