Widespread Famine Looms In Nigeria, Others -UN …EU Boosts UN COVID-19 Response In Nigeria With €1.2m …As NBS Confirms Inflation Rise To 12.26% In March

Nigeria, many African countries and others around the world are at risk of widespread famines “of biblical proportions” if Coronavirus continues to bite, the United Nations (UN) has alerted.
The novel Coronavirus has claimed more than 175,000 lives and affected 2.5million people worldwide.
The Head of the World Food Programme (WFP, David Beasley, who raised the alarm, yesterday, also called for an urgent action.
The number suffering from hunger could almost double from 135million to more than 250million.
WFP added that the 10 nations are currently affected by conflict, economic crisis and climate change.
The Global Report on Food Crises listed them as Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria and Haiti.
Beasely told the UN Security Council, during a video conference, the world has to “act wisely and act fast.
“We could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months. The truth is we do not have time on our side.
“I do believe that with our expertise and our partnerships, we can bring together the teams and the programmes necessary to make certain the Covid-19 pandemic does not become a human and food crisis catastrophe.”
In a statement, WFP Senior Economist, Arif Husain, said the economic impact of the pandemic was potentially catastrophic for millions “who are already hanging by a thread. It is a hammer blow for millions more who can only eat if they earn a wage.
“Lockdowns and global economic recession have already decimated their nest eggs. It only takes one more shock – like Covid-19 – to push them over the edge. We must collectively act now to mitigate the impact of this global catastrophe.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations, yesterday, announced that it received €1.2million from the European Union for the provision of lifesaving preparedness and response activities for Covid-19 in Nigeria.
The Communications Specialist, UNICEF Nigeria, Mr Geoffrey Njoku, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
The UN said the support was due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Nigeria, along with concerns around the need to drastically scale-up public health preparedness and response.
It also said that the humanitarian funding received would further the UN’s Covid-19 response in Nigeria.
This, it said, would be by engaging with communities on how to best protect themselves from the virus and providing essential health supplies where they were needed most.
It said, “With these critical funds from the EU, the UN as a whole in Nigeria is in a better position to do the important work of engaging with communities on how they can prevent the spread of this virus.
“It will also complement the government’s efforts to ensure that healthcare workers can continue the critical work they are already doing to test and treat cases in the country,” it quoted the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, as saying.
“Where we have funded close to €271.5million (N116billion) in emergency food aid, shelter, access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation, and basic primary healthcare since 2014,” it also quoted the Head of the EU’s Humanitarian Aid Office in Nigeria, Thomas Conan, as stating.
It said that with EU funding, UNICEF would be contributing to the efforts underway in the country to contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its effects.
It added that it would help with the emergency response to identified cases, as well as prevention and preparedness measures for possible future outbreaks in crowded cities and camps for internally displaced people in Nigeria’s north-east region.
It said that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and global health leaders around the world, are advising that physical distancing, washing of hands on a regular basis and staying at home will help significantly to halt the progress of the virus.
Similarly, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased by 12.26 per cent year-on-year in March.
The NBS made this known in its latest report on inflation released, yesterday.
It explained that the report showed that inflation in March was 0.06 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in February, which was 12.20 per cent.
The bureau said the lock down in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states and various major disruptions in normal economic activities in several states started in April and wouldn’t have had any impact because this report focused on March.
It stated that the increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.
The NBS added that on a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.84 per cent in March and this was 0.05 per cent higher than the rate recorded in February, which was 0.79 per cent.
“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period, ending in March over the average CPI for the previous 12 months period was 11.62 per cent showing 0.08 per cent point from 11.54 per cent recorded in February.
“The urban inflation rate increased by 12.93 per cent year on year in March as against 12.85 per cent recorded in February while the rural inflation rate increased by 11.64 per cent in March from 11.61 per cent in February.