Tinubuuuuuuuuuu!!!!

Nigerians will likely face “famine-like” hunger in 2026

Good morning, Big Brains. You’re probably already sketching out your 2026 vision board. Nigerian to Nigerian, here’s a fair advice: you might want to sneak pictures of rice and garri onto that board, because food may become a full-blown luxury next year.

- Margaret

Word count: ~ 1,100
Reading time ~ 6 mins

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Let’s get into today’s edition:

• Nigerians will likely face “famine-like” hunger in 2026

• Kalu wants the law to punish any government official who negotiates ransom with criminals

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The Big Deal

Nigerians will likely face “famine-like” hunger in 2026

It would be hard for President Tinubu to sleep well at night in the coming year, because if what the World Food Programme (WFP) is saying is true, Nigerians will be calling for his head every day.

The recent wave of terrorist attacks in northern Nigeria is pushing hunger to record-breaking levels, and thousands of Nigerians are already facing what the WFP describes as “famine-like conditions.”

According to the agency, it could get even worse in 2026 as nearly 35 million people across northern Nigeria are expected to face severe food insecurity between May and September 2026.

These attacks have already killed over 40,000 people and displaced two million. Just last week, over 300 students and teachers were kidnapped from a Catholic school in Niger State, 25 girls were abducted in Kebbi, and 38 worshippers were taken from a church in Kwara during a livestreamed service.

Why is this a big deal?

Excuse our French, but Nigeria is in really deep shit. We’d usually rely on foreign aid to beat crazy odds like this, but the WFP’s biggest donor (the United States) has slashed foreign aid under Donald Trump, and several European countries have also cut their humanitarian budgets. Before these aids were slashed, 1 million people in northeast Nigeria relied on WFP food aid, but funding cuts have forced the agency to reduce its nutrition programs in July. Out of 500 nutrition centres, the funding cut forced WFP to shut down at least 150 centres, putting 300,000 children at risk of becoming malnourished.

In the midst of these aid cuts, the country is still facing these terrorist attacks. Just yesterday, 11 people were abducted from the Isapa community of the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State. There was also a stampede in Nasarawa as some worshippers were reportedly fleeing from armed herders.

This is not a crisis that will stay contained in the north. Hunger spreads faster than anyone wants to admit, and insecurity does not need permission to enter new regions. If millions of farmers cannot access their farmlands or harvest food without getting kidnapped, food prices across the country will climb even higher, making the current cost-of-living crisis look like child’s play.

All of this will also affect businesses and foreign investment because no investor wants to operate in a country where violence is on the rise. The ripple effects will touch every Nigerian eventually.

As we approach 2026, Tinubu’s economic and tax reforms are no longer the only opps we should be worried about. Hunger, insecurity, and reduced global support are forming an unholy alliance, and if nothing changes, they will drag Nigeria into a far deeper crisis than anyone is prepared for.

Kalu wants the law to punish any government official who negotiates ransom with criminals

Paying ransom to criminals because nobody trusts the police enough to do their job is one of the top three craziest things in Nigeria, and it’s not number three or two. Even the House of Representatives is finally clocking this shameful trend,

Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, on Tuesday, November 25, proposed penalties for government officials who negotiate ransom payments within the next six months.

According to Kalu, the legislative move is part of what he calls “phase one” of a broader anti-insecurity plan. He said the foundation of the plan is an anti-banditry resolution that would legally stop ransom negotiations and mandate the criminal justice system to handle bandits instead of offering unstructured amnesty deals.

In his words, the key provisions include criminal penalties for government officials who negotiate ransom and mandatory prosecution of all banditry suspects through the criminal justice system.

He also emphasised that it’s become important for the lawmakers to consider the creation of state and local police forces, and also promote the use of modern equipment to help security agencies respond more effectively to crimes.

If you recall, President Tinubu announced that the abducted worshippers had been released, but Nigerians quickly noticed that his speech made no mention of any arrests, raising suspicions that a ransom was paid. Even though there are no clues that link the release of these worshippers to ransom payment, past reports suggest that the government still has a history of paying ransom to terrorists.

We don’t usually stand ten toes behind proposed bills, but this one has our full support.

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