Food Crisis in Nigeria: Williams Uchemba Crusades Against Looming Hunger

The food crisis in Nigeria is reaching a critical point, and popular Nollywood actor and humanitarian, Williams Uchemba, is sounding the alarm.

With a compelling video posted on his official Instagram page, Uchemba has catapulted the issue of imminent hunger in Nigeria into the spotlight, urging immediate and collective action.

This dire situation, particularly in most Northern States, signals a nationwide emergency that could leave many without basic sustenance in the coming months.

The Impending Food Crisis

At the heart of the food crisis is Niger State, a crucial agricultural sector in Nigeria now facing a severe threat to its food security.

The state’s recent declaration of a food emergency, coupled with the governor’s drastic measures to halt food exports, underscores the gravity of the situation.

This bold step, meant to conserve resources for local consumption, highlights the systemic failures and challenges in managing food distribution and security in Nigeria.

According to Williams;

If you follow the news, just last week, the governor of Niger State appeared in a video and publicly announced that they will not be exporting any food from their state again. In Niger State now, you cannot remove anything.

Niger State Governor, Muhammed Umar Bago, had earlier announced that;

Trucks that come to park or buy foodstuffs from our villagers should be halted for now. We have stopped mass purchases from our local market in all our local governments from now on, until further notice.

Anyone found doing that, we have authorized security agencies to go ahead and confiscate those trucks and distribute the food to the people. Thank you.

Mobilizing for Change: Uchemba’s Agricultural Initiative

Responding to the crisis, Williams Uchemba is not standing by idly. His video message goes beyond raising awareness; it is a call to action.

Uchemba, leveraging his foundation, is initiating a partnership with the National Coordinator on Women Farmers to empower local farmers, starting with the South East.

Directly supplying seedlings and inputs, the initiative bypasses distribution challenges, ensuring farmers receive the resources they crucially need.

In the words of Williams Uchemba:

Yesterday, if you saw the video about food scarcity, it’s usually said that when there’s a problem, food becomes scarce everywhere. You go to Kano, where previously there was nothing you couldn’t find. But right now, if you visit Kano, they say there is no food. And they’ve just discovered a warehouse where food has been hidden away.

Guys, they possess information we don’t have. There’s something the North knows that we don’t. I’m addressing everyone in the South South and the South East. Let’s wake up.

I’ve been in discussions with the National Coordinator for Women Farmers, and right now, my foundation is dedicating everything to farming. In partnership with this organization, we’re starting in the Southeast and will be moving to another state next week.

We aim to empower as many farmers as possible because these farmers face a common issue: even when funds are allocated, they don’t reach them. Middlemen, or intermediaries, siphon off what’s meant for the real local farmers, who then don’t receive the seedlings and inputs they need for farming.

The majority of crops grown in the North can also be cultivated here. Young people, take note. It’s time to engage in farming. It’s not demeaning; it’s essential. You will face hunger if we don’t act. I wouldn’t make a video like this if it weren’t crucial. There’s a serious problem, and addressing it is the advantage of what we’re about to do.

By distributing these seedlings to farmers, we first tackle the hunger problem within our community. Imagine, one person plants maize, another cassava, another watermelon, and another cucumber. This variety will make food affordable within that community.

Moreover, we could then start exporting. Currently, the export of maize has been halted because our production was insufficient even for domestic needs. This led to a reduction in maize exports a few years ago due to our inability to meet our own food demands.

This strategy is key to boosting the Southeast’s economy.

We need to reach as many farmers as possible. There are 31,000 female farmers in the Southeast alone. Including men, the total exceeds 100,000. But we’re beginning with the women, which is why we’re launching this program. Our goal is to provide seedlings to as many farmers as we can, free of charge.

A Vision for the Future: Sustainable Agriculture as a Pillar of National Security

Williams Uchemba’s efforts reflect a broader vision for Nigeria—a vision where agriculture is recognized as a cornerstone of national security and economic stability.

Drawing inspiration from global examples like the Netherlands, which thrived agriculturally even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Uchemba’s message is clear: Nigeria has the potential to overcome its food security challenges through strategic investment in agriculture.

This vision calls for a reevaluation of national priorities, with a focus on harnessing Nigeria’s fertile lands for sustainable food production.

He said;

During the COVID year, the Netherlands alone made 160 billion from agriculture. While the world was collapsing, they focused on what was most important. We need to wake up as a country.

You can’t get anything from the North. And if Benue, for example, joins, all the yam we eat in the South East comes from Benue. Why can’t we plant yam in our village?

If they decide to start, there will be a problem. The issue is that those farmers don’t have enough capacity or input to start farming, to plant what is needed.

It’s time to wake up, my friends. We’ve paid so much attention to oil, but oil has put us in more trouble. If we pay attention to agriculture, oil will be a joke in this country. If you’re listening to what I’m saying, let it not be said that in the next couple of months, everything I’m saying will come to pass.

Let it not happen. There are some things that, if we start planting now, in the next few months we can start cultivating and even exporting.

A Nationwide Call to Action: Joining Forces Against the Food Crisis

The food crisis in Nigeria demands urgent and collective action. Uchemba’s call to arms is not just for policymakers or farmers; it’s a rallying cry for all Nigerians, especially the youth, to engage in agriculture.

Whether for subsistence or commercial purposes, the active participation in farming by a broader segment of the population is seen as crucial to avert the looming crisis.

Uchemba advocates for more than just individual efforts; he calls for a collaborative movement. This movement unites government, social media, and industry to prioritize and invest in agriculture for the nation’s future.

If you want to partner with me, that’s fine. If you want to go to your village and do it, I’m starting from my place. If you’re from the south, wherever, if you want to go to your village and empower your people, I’m already working with an organization that is sorting this thing out now.

And next week, we are going. Let us wake up. There is a serious problem ahead of us. What you think you’re seeing now is only a joke compared to what is coming. Get rid of the distractions. Get rid of everything that you think matters now because a point will come where you won’t see food to eat. Before you make that TikTok video, a point will come where food to eat will be more important than going on Instagram.

These people up there know something we don’t know. Just wake up and start doing what we have to do. Hear what I am saying.

And young people, go into farming. Even if you will not farm for business, at least farm the food you will eat. If we start producing cassava now, do you think we’ll be facing the shortages we are now, with prices climbing in the market? If we start empowering our people in the village, even in town, most of you have acres of land wasting away. Why can’t you contract that land to farmers to start farming what we will eat?

I’m going to empty the foundation account into buying seedlings. We are starting with Imo State and some local farmers. My target is to hit 31,000 farmers, women in the Southeast. If you want to partner with us, if you don’t want to give us money, give us seedlings.

Give us the input. Give us cassava, the raw inputs, let us distribute them to these people. If you want to partner with us, you can do so as much as you can. But there is a serious problem, and we need to deal with it. This is an SOS call. This is a state of emergency.

If no action is carried out soonest, Williams Uchemba noted that;

Because if this is not done, we are in big trouble and we’ll be at the mercy of our brothers up in the North. It’s already happening. If you don’t know what’s going on, go and watch the news. As I speak, I’m currently in talks, and we are partnering.

We’ve started making plans with the National Coordinator for Nigerian Women for Agricultural Progress, Mrs. Omolara. We’ve started communication, and we are going to Imo State.

Let me start with the South East before I start talking about other places. We intend to support 31,000 women, just women farmers, local women farmers. This madness needs to stop. Let us wake up. Let us smell the coffee. It is getting real.

This is no longer a joke. I have some information I cannot begin to say here. But there is fire on the mountain. Hear my voice and hear it loud and clear. There is fire on the mountain. The seedlings we need, the inputs we need, Niger State is producing things like cassava, maize, tatashi, okra, ugu, cucumber.

All these are the types of seedlings we are putting in the hands of our people. Anyone you feel you want to give us. If you want to give us the input itself, fine, we’ll coordinate on how we can get it in its thousands. If you want to give us the resources to go and get the seedlings, we are not giving these farmers money.

So, it’s not a situation of taking money and going to buy. We are giving them the seedlings ourselves. We are buying it and handing it over to them. And there’s another conversation we are going to have, even if you want to get into.

The Time to Act is Now

The food crisis in Nigeria is a ticking time bomb, but it’s not too late to defuse it.

Williams Uchemba’s urgent call highlights the severity of the situation and the need for immediate action.

By empowering farmers and reimagining Nigeria’s agricultural potential, we ignite hope. Additionally, fostering a national movement for food security enables us to avert the immediate crisis and lay the foundation for long-term sustainability and prosperity.

The message is clear: the time to act is now before the crisis escalates beyond control.