Peter Obi is right — Northern Nigeria's hunger crisis is a leadership failure

Peter Obi has spoken again and as usual he cut through the noise. The UN World Food Programme is warning that over 17 million people in nine northern states face crisis-level hunger, with more than 35 million Nigerians nationwide at risk. And Obi is not mincing words — he said this is a direct result of incompetent and irresponsible leadership. Northern Nigeria is our food basket, and we have leaders who cannot even secure the agricultural corridors or support smallholder farmers.

Let me be clear: this is not a regional problem. This is a national failure. When over 10,000 residents of Borno State have entered catastrophic hunger conditions, we are not talking about politics anymore. We are talking about children dying. Obi called on the Federal Government and state leaders to move beyond political discourse and make transparent investments. He is asking for collaboration with the World Food Programme to bridge funding gaps before more lives are lost. But will they listen? The same leaders who have been in power for decades and have done nothing to diversify our economy or secure our food supply?

I am tired of hearing people say Obi is just complaining. He is pointing at a fire and asking someone to bring water. The fact that Nigeria ranks among the world's hungriest nations despite our abundant resources is a disgrace. We have vast stretches of fertile land in the North that remain uncultivated. So I ask you — what exactly have our leaders been doing with the billions in agricultural budgets? Am I the only one that thinks this is a clear case of leadership failure that should disqualify anyone who has been part of it from ever holding office again?