The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has identified hunger and poverty as significant contributors to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, calling for holistic efforts to address the root causes of violence and instability.
Ribadu made the remarks on Monday at a National Security Seminar themed “Combating Hunger and Poverty for Sustainable Peace and Development in Nigeria”, organised by the Alumni Association of the National Defence College (AANDEC) in Abuja.
Speaking through the Director of Defence Affairs at the Office of the NSA, Major General Peter Mala, Ribadu warned that, “Hunger and poverty are not just social challenges — they are catalysts for crime, violence, and societal breakdown.”
He stressed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has initiated reforms in agriculture and expanded social investment programmes to improve food security and reduce poverty.
“These issues form a vicious cycle — poverty fuels insecurity, and insecurity in turn deepens poverty,” he said. “We are coordinating both kinetic and non-kinetic responses through military, intelligence, civil society, and development initiatives to tackle these issues comprehensively.”
The NSA’s warning was reinforced by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, who said Nigeria must now view hunger and poverty as national security threats. Represented by the Chief of Defence Training, Rear Admiral Ibrahim Shetimma, the CDS lamented the effects of ongoing conflicts on food production and rural livelihoods.
“Insecurity today is no longer defined solely by arms and ammunition, but also by economic deprivation, food insecurity, and social dislocation,” he said. “States like Benue, once considered Nigeria’s food basket, are now ravaged by banditry and farmer-herder clashes, making farming unsafe and pushing rural populations into urban slums.”
He urged the government to invest heavily in rural agriculture, access to credit, and infrastructure to attract youth back to farming and reposition agriculture as a profitable and dignified enterprise.
“We must make farming attractive again — not as a last resort but as a respected national calling,” Musa emphasized.
In his remarks, Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammed Badaru, advocated a people-centred approach to tackling insecurity, noting that economic hardship and social exclusion are key drivers of unrest.
“In today’s world, security threats are borderless. To counter them effectively, we need collective, whole-of-society action,” he said, while commending President Tinubu’s focus on improving citizen welfare.
The President of the Alumni Association, Air Commodore Darlington Abdullahi (retd.), described hunger and poverty as “strategic threats” to Nigeria’s stability. He called for stronger investments in education, skills training, and social inclusion, especially among vulnerable populations.
“When millions suffer from hunger, they become easy targets for exploitation,” Abdullahi warned. “We must train the children of the poor or risk facing the consequences of their anger and desperation.”
To address this, he proposed the establishment of a vocational and leadership training centre for widows and children of fallen security personnel, as part of a broader strategy for national healing and empowerment.
