Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for urgent measures to reduce the cost of food, fuel and transport, linking rising household expenses to Nigeria’s worsening child malnutrition crisis.
Atiku said economic policies must focus not only on headline indicators but also on whether families can afford adequate food and other basic necessities.
He made the call in a statement on Thursday, issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, which cited nutrition figures showing that 41.1 per cent of Nigerian children under five are stunted, while 19.2 per cent are severely stunted. The prevalence, he said, rises to 58.2 per cent in the North-West.
Atiku also cited figures indicating that nearly two million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, with only about two in 10 receiving treatment.
He said the figures should be considered against the pressure of food, energy and transport costs on household incomes, arguing that expensive fuel increases the cost of moving farm produce, goods and people and ultimately raises household expenditure.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported food inflation at 19.57 per cent year-on-year in August 2026, down from 20.31 per cent in July, while monthly food inflation fell to 1.02 per cent from 5.56 per cent.
Atiku said his proposed economic programme would seek to lower domestic production costs through a targeted production subsidy for petroleum refined in Nigeria, rather than a return to subsidising imported petrol.
‘My position is straightforward: support what Nigeria produces and refines, lower domestic production costs, and ensure that the benefit reaches the Nigerian consumer,’ he said.
He said reducing energy and transport costs would ease pressure across agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, trade and household consumption.
Beyond economic measures, Atiku called for expanded treatment of severely malnourished children, stronger maternal and child nutrition programmes and improved funding for nutrition interventions.
‘We cannot build a strong country on the bodies of hungry children,’ he said, adding that economic policy should ultimately answer whether ordinary Nigerians could afford to live.
Atiku said his objective was to lower energy and transport costs, strengthen domestic production, restore purchasing power and give families greater capacity to afford nutritious food.