A Nigerian legal luminary, Afe Babalola, has strongly criticized the Federal Government’s approach to palliative distribution, describing it as a deliberate attempt to reduce Nigerians to beggars. Babalola, who is the founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, made these remarks during a visit from the Prestige Sisters League, who were on a thank-you tour of the university.
During his address, Babalola expressed concern about the current state of the nation, particularly the widespread hunger affecting many Nigerians. He emphasized that those who are voicing their concerns about hunger are doing so out of genuine desperation.
“Those who are complaining about hunger are doing so sincerely. They are hungry. A hungry man can go to any length to show his anger. We do not need anybody to tell us about hunger in the country. The protest was genuine and the government should listen to them,” he stated on Thursday.
Babalola underscored the fundamental responsibility of the government to ensure the welfare of its citizens. He pointed out that the escalating insecurity in the country has made it difficult for people to engage in farming and other productive activities, which has, in turn, exacerbated the hunger crisis.
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“The duty of government is the welfare of the people. The problem we have now is that people cannot move freely. They have abandoned the farms. People are being killed in their farms and everybody wants to stay where they are safe. It is because the government has failed in this regard that we have hunger,” he noted.
Criticizing the government’s strategy of distributing basic food items like garri, beans, and rice as palliatives, Babalola argued that this approach is counterproductive and only serves to foster dependency among the population. “It is wrong for the government to be sharing garri, beans, and rice as palliatives. They are turning the people into beggars. The government that is giving the people rice and beans is leading us to poverty. The government is discouraging people from working, whereas, the government must provide the people with an enabling environment for them to work and feed themselves,” Babalola asserted.
He called for a shift in focus from handouts to creating opportunities for self-sufficiency, urging the government to prioritize security and economic stability to empower Nigerians to work and earn their livelihoods. According to Babalola, only by addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty can the nation achieve sustainable development and prosperity.
