The haunting images of stampedes during food distribution events in Ibadan, Abuja, and Anambra tell the distressing story of Nigeria in 2024.
Development Diaries reports that the outgoing year saw an unprecedented rise in the cost of living – fuel prices soaring by 77 percent, electricity bills escalating by 217 percent, and staples like beans, rice, bread, and garri climbing by over 50 percent.
These figures represent more than just economic statistics; they reflect the daily struggles of millions of Nigerians, whose survival now depends on acts of charity. For many families, desperation has turned food handouts into life-threatening pursuits. This is sad.
The chaos witnessed during palliative distributions is not merely about poor organisation but a visible manifestation of systemic failures that demand urgent intervention.
Ensuring safety
As Nigeria heads into the festive season and the cycle of end-of-year giveaways begins, the question arises: how do we ensure that such well-meaning acts of generosity do not culminate in more tragedy?
Stakeholders across all sectors – government agencies, NGOs, philanthropists, and corporate donors – must step up with coordinated and innovative solutions.
Government agencies must first take responsibility for creating order out of chaos. The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs should immediately implement nationwide protocols for public palliative distributions.
These protocols should mandate crowd control measures, pre-registration systems, and decentralised distribution points to prevent the clustering of desperate crowds.
On their part, state governments, in collaboration with local structures such as community leaders and faith-based organisations, should ensure that palliatives are delivered directly to households in need, reducing the necessity for large public gatherings altogether.
Furthermore, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) must take a proactive role in identifying hunger hotspots and deploying resources efficiently, while also training local officials in disaster prevention and crowd management.
Viable alternatives
For non-governmental organisations, the focus must shift towards cash and voucher assistance (CVA) initiatives – enabled through digital transfers or mobile money. Safety should be a non-negotiable priority, with NGOs partnering with security agencies and health officials to implement protective measures at any public events they organise.
Philanthropists and corporate donors, while often driven by noble intentions, must rethink the impact and structure of their interventions. One-off giveaways, although helpful in the short term, fail to address the root causes of hunger and poverty.
Instead, investments should be channeled into sustainable initiatives, such as skill acquisition programmes, microcredit schemes, and agricultural projects aimed at boosting local food production. Transparency and accountability are equally crucial; working with credible organisations that have a proven track record in relief efforts can ensure that resources are deployed effectively.
Moreover, publicised distributions that attract large crowds should be replaced with discreet, organised systems that prioritise safety and dignity over spectacle.
As the nation prepares to welcome 2025, it is imperative to reflect on the actionable steps that can avert further humanitarian crises.
Development Diaries therefore calls for the scale-up of social safety nets – such as the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP). The Federal Ministry of Finance must also address food inflation through targeted subsidies and investments in local food production to reduce reliance on imports.
The hunger-induced stampedes of 2024 serve as a harrowing reminder of the human cost of systemic failures. Yet, these tragedies also present an opportunity for transformative action.
