Fears grow that about 50,000 children may die of malnutrition in Borno State this year

AS many as 50,000 children who have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency face the prospect of dying from malnutrition this year according to the senate majority leader and legislator representing Borno South Senator Ali Ndume.

 

Speaking during a cocktail organised to mark the official inauguration of Get Involved Initiative, a pet project of the wife of the president Mrs Aisha Buhari, Senator Ndume said Nigeria might have a larger crisis on its hands if all stakeholders failed to do something urgent about the malnutrition. Mrs Buhari's Get Involved Initiative, project is aimed at combating malnutrition in the northeast, which has been devastated by the terrorist insurgency.

 

Senator Ndume said: “The situation in the northeast, particularly in Borno State, is very serious. If we do not do something concrete now about these children that are growing up malnourished, sick with hunger and poverty, then we are going to have another war that is worse than Boko Haram.

 

“So, I want you to give the wife of the president all the support. As estimated, if we don’t do something, for sure, more than 50,000 children are going to die of malnutrition and that is apart from the people that are dying right now because of hunger in Borno State.”

 

Borno State governor Kashim Shettima, lauded the president’s wife for the initiative. He urged other well-meaning Nigerians to join the crusade of bringing new lease of life to the people of the region, especially children.

 

Governor Shettima said: “We cannot thank you enough. You deserve special commendation for your giant strides towards assisting the less privileged in our society.

 

“She has so far given 30 trucks of assorted commodities to our people. We want to call on other well-to-do Nigerians to come out to support her cause.”