25m Nigerians require humanitarian assistance annually, Minister

No fewer than 25 million Nigerians require humanitarian assistance annually, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro says.

Our correspondent reports that the minister stated this on Friday in Calabar at the maiden edition of the meeting of the National Council on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.

The minister further noted that about 60 per cent of the nation’s population lived in multidimensional poverty, and the capacity of sub-regional government to handle this challenge should be strengthened as they remained in the frontline.

“Nigeria today faces stark realities. Over 25 million citizens require humanitarian assistance annually, while more than 60 per cent of the population lives in multidimensional poverty.

“States and local governments areas are at the frontline of these challenges and their capacity must be strengthened through financing, skills development, data integration, and institutional support, enabling locally led and context-specific solutions,” he stated.

Doro emphasised that the theme of the meeting: “Beyond the National: Strengthening Sub Nationals and Multi-Stakeholder Synergy for a Unified Approach to Humanitarian Response and Poverty Reduction” was apt as it directly addressed the reality.

He added that Nigeria’s humanitarian and poverty challenges could no longer be addressed in silos, by isolated actors, or through fragmented interventions.

According to him, they demand coordination, coherence, and collective responsibility across all levels of government and society.

He said the council is the institutional vehicle for delivering the ministry’s vision of One Humanitarian, One Poverty Reduction System.

He explained that the system is designed to harmonise interventions, eliminate duplication, align humanitarian response with poverty reduction, and ensure that all actors operated within a unified national framework.

Similarly, Yusuf Sununu, the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, said the government was open to ideas and solutions that would improve the lot of the people.

On his part, Dr Peter Odey, the Deputy Governor of Cross River, said the state government would continue to do its best, within available resources, to mitigate challenges associated with humanitarian crisis.

He expressed optimism that together, humanitarian actions could be made efficient, inclusive and sustainable in line with the theme of the council meeting.