Professor Demo Kalla has issued a stark warning that Nigeria’s worsening food challenges can no longer be treated as an agricultural or economic issue alone, but must now be addressed as a core national security threat.
Speaking at the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Week 2026, Kalla said the country’s rising food insecurity, inflationary pressure, and deepening rural hardship reflect a broader system failure in governance and policy execution.
He argued that hunger in Nigeria is increasingly shaped by political and structural decisions that determine access to resources, productivity, and national stability.
“Food insecurity is not an isolated problem. It is a reflection of how a nation is governed and how opportunities are distributed,” he said.
Kalla, who leads the TETFund Centre of Excellence on Food Security at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, called for a shift from “food security” to “food sovereignty,” stressing the need for Nigeria to take full control of what it produces and consumes.
He warned that global shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict exposed the dangers of relying heavily on imported food systems.
“Nigeria must begin to treat food as a strategic national asset, not a market commodity dependent on external forces,” he said.
The professor noted that Nigeria is not short of agricultural policies or regional commitments, but suffers from weak implementation and lack of sustained political will.
He referenced continental guidelines urging countries to dedicate at least 10 percent of their budgets to agriculture, noting that Nigeria’s performance in that regard remains inconsistent.
“The problem is not the absence of policy. It is the failure to implement what has already been agreed,” he said.
Hunger and Insecurity Linked
Kalla also drew attention to the growing connection between food shortages, unemployment, and insecurity, warning that neglecting rural economies could worsen instability nationwide.
He called for urgent investment in agriculture-led job creation, especially for young people, across the entire value chain.
Shaping the National Narrative
Addressing communication experts at the forum, Kalla stressed the power of messaging in shaping national priorities and public perception.
“How a nation talks about its problems often determines how it chooses to solve them,” he said.
Leadership Under Scrutiny
He concluded that food security remains one of the clearest tests of governance effectiveness in any nation.
“The real question is whether leadership can translate policy vision into food on the table,” he said.
The forum closed with renewed calls for stronger coordination between agriculture, communication, and security stakeholders, as experts warned that Nigeria’s food challenge is fast becoming a defining national risk.
Kalla Sounds Alarm: Nigeria’s Food Crisis Now a National Security Threat
