Senator representing Borno South, Mr Ali Ndume, has lamented that no one, not the ministers or senators, can see President Bola Tinubu, to alert him on the ravaging food crisis in the country.
Ndume, a fierce critic of the president, lamented that the president has been shielded from everyone including his ministers in what he said was a closed-door policy of the current administration.
Ndume, who was speaking on the BBC Hausa Service monitored by NewsNGR on Wednesday, regretted no lawmaker could access the president to discuss issues pertaining to their constituencies.
The senator warned that unless steps were taken against widespread hunger in the country, malnutrition would affect many in Nigeria as it has already affected children in the Northwest.
Reminding the president about a UN report that warned that 82 million Nigerians would find themselves hungry without food in the next five years, Ndume said, “We are afraid one day a person may go to the market with money and be confronted with a situation where there won’t be food to buy.”
According to him, “We have information from Katsina. If hunger persists, the children will suffer most, the children lack food for healthy growth.
“This is a situation you find in places where there is war or famine.
“We’ve seen how it happened in Niger and South Sudan where children have died. Now the situation is rearing its ugly head in Nigeria,” he further warned.
The senator said previous governments used to store food in Food Banks for emergency needs, but now it’s no more. “This is a matter of serious concern and something should be done quickly about it,” he said.
Ndume justified his public outcry when asked if he had made attempts to discuss with the president in private, saying, “even some Ministers cannot see the President.”