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Janay Singleton

Phillips

English 3 Period 1

8 May, 2017

Child Hunger in Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world, so you would think child hunger

wouldn't be an issue here. Because of reasons like war, poverty, and government issues many

Nigerians suffer with hunger and health issues. The aid that people are sending isn't reaching

northern Nigeria like it should, is one of the main reasons child hunger still currently occurs here.

Child hunger in northern Nigeria is causing many adults but mainly children to catch

diseases. Save the children country director, Ben Foot states, children are presenting in

desperate conditions and facing severe malnutrition, often in combination with other

life-threatening illnesses like pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea. Many families in northern

Nigeria also live on about $450 a year, which plays a huge factor in being able to provide food

for themselves. The war has caused about 5.1 million families to not have access to sufficient

about of foods. Along with child hunger, children are facing illnesses that are causing their

immune systems to be severely weakened. Many of these children have fought this problem two

to three times already, putting them at risk for SAM (severe acute malnutrition).

The problem remains unsolved in many parts of northern Nigerian because the aid

thats being sent. The proper about of funds aren't being raised. The UNICEF, has raised only

28 million of the 115 million it has asked for they also claim it has been incredibly hard to get

the food and other items that are being bought for them because of Boko Haram. The terrorist
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group, Boko Haram, is causing the roads to be dangerous, making it only so that food can only

get in by army escorts or helicopter. Another reason food isnt reaching Nigerians is because

Boko Haram soldiers and forcing people do proceed with suicide bombings causing chaos

throughout the streets where food is trying to be delivered. Since these issues aren't being fixed,

the people will continue to get sick and starve to death. There are a few health workers that have

either been relocated to Nigeria or already live there that are helping. According to Leslie

Roberts, children get measuring tape wrapped around their upper arm. If the tape falls below the

red zone, the child is diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous form. One

out of five children will die because of this.

Many groups around the world have opposition viewpoints only because they don't know

about the situation or just don't want to help. Leslie Roberts claims, the food crisis remains

remarkably unrecognized and hugely underfunded. Programs like UNICEF, try to raise money

but its goes mostly unrecognized. A group that strongly opposes northern Nigeria strongly is

Boko Haram, and islamic group. the group is doing everything they can to prevent food and

health care from reaching nigeria. Boko Haram emerged into Northern Nigeria in 2009. In 2011,

the group announced by bombing the capital and in 2014 again when they kidnapped over 250

school girls. After all this occured, Boko Haram started a war which started the issue of child

hunger. Boko Haram claims they started this war because of bad governance, corruption,

persistent economic hardship, and rising inequality (Schultz). The islamic group demands to

have Nigeria turned into an islamic state. 35% of the health care facilities have been destroyed

and another 30% damaged meaning the families cant turn to any resources for food or help.

Boko Haram is doing so much damage to Nigeria, which is causing a lot of problems that could
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easily be changed.

A lot of things come into play when discussing the issues about child hunger in northern

Nigeria. Many things could be changed in the area and around to help them escape this problem.

The first thing that could be done is to make other people aware about the issues going on since

it remains hugely unfunded and unrecognized. More groups besides the UNICEF could raise

money for Nigeria to help with poverty since most people -75% - there live on no more than

$1.25 a day. More health care providers could be sent out to provide more care and treatment to

make sure the children can recover for malnutrition and the illnesses that theyll also receive.

Since all of these corrections have not been done yet, people are finding skeletal babies at the

makeshift medical facilities. The babies that are being found were noted to have been getting

help because they have been marked with plastic nodules on their skulls since that is the only

place where veins are visible.

Many people in this country probably hope they could come back as one instead of being

divided into a rich and poor section. This change occured not long before Boko Haram made its

way in Nigeria. The splitting of the country caused a huge affect on the hunger issue. If Nigeria

ever wants the hunger issue to disappear they should comply with the soldiers. The army claims

they just want their demands fulfilled, like the release of their prisoners and to create Nigeria into

an islamic state. If they make their demands public instead of just keeping it local, they might be

able to escape all the issues.

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Work Cited

Action Against Hunger Logo. Nigeria Hunger Relief in Africa Action Against Hunger,

Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.

Kingsley, Patrick, and Sarah Boseley. "Tens of Thousands of Children at Risk of Starvation

in Nigeria Crisis." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 25 Nov. 2016. Web.

24 Apr. 2017.

McCoy, Terrence. This Is How Boko Haram Funds Its Evil. The Washington Post, WP

Company. Accessed 7 May 2017.

McNeil Jr., Donald G.. "Malnutrition Wiping Out Children in Northern Nigeria, Aid

Workers Say." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Jan. 2017. Web. 24

Apr. 2017.

"Nigeria: Hunger crisis could kill 200 children per day." Al Jazeera America, 15 Nov. 2016.

Global Issues in Context, Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.

Roberts, Leslie. Hunger Amplifies Infectious Diseases for Millions Fleeing the Violence of

Boko Haram. Science AAAS, 6 Apr. 2017,

Schultz, Heidi. Nigeria's Boko Haram: Who Are They and What Do They Want? National

Geographic, National Geographic Society, 20 Mar. 2015, Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.

Sieff, Kevin. "75,000 Children in Nigeria Could Die from Hunger over the next Year." The

Washington Post. WP Company, 14 Oct. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

"War and hunger threaten children in Nigeria." Premium Official News, 23 Feb. 2017.

Infotrac Newsstand, Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.