Policy researcher and food safety advocate, Dr. Segun Adebayo, has called on the Federal Government to adopt the InnerCity Mission for Children’s humanitarian framework as a national strategy for combating hunger and poverty in Nigeria.
Speaking at the Global Roundtable organised by the InnerCity Mission for Children in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, held in commemoration of the World Food Day and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Dr. Adebayo delivered an address titled “The Role of Policy Research in Protecting Food Sovereignty.”
“Hunger is an existential crisis, a fundamental requirement for survival. The convergence of food and poverty manifests as hunger, and a hungry person will accept any policy or palliative to alleviate it. A population plagued by hunger is highly susceptible to external influence.
“Unfortunately, many global relief agencies exploit this vulnerability, acting as conduits for foreign policies that erode national sovereignty under the guise of aid,” he said.
He warned that unless Nigeria develops homegrown solutions to its challenges, the nation risks being overwhelmed by policies and interventions that serve external interests.
“Unless we work diligently to address hunger and poverty within our borders, we risk being overwhelmed by external solutions that often prioritize foreign interests over our own.
“A clear example is the adoption of foreign biotech seeds, enabled by the Plant Variety Protection Act of 2021. This legislation restricts farmers from sharing, saving, or processing seeds without permission from seed merchants, who are predominantly foreign.
“These seeds, often unable to self-reproduce and capable of sterilizing natural counterparts, create dependency on external suppliers. This dynamic allows hunger to be initiated, controlled, or even weaponised by foreign entities, disenfranchising those without resources to access these seeds.”
Dr. Adebayo emphasised that policy research plays a critical role in safeguarding national sovereignty and ensuring that Nigeria’s laws and programs protect its people from exploitation.
“As I conclude, I emphasise that policy researchers play a critical role in investigating and advising parliamentarians and government offices to safeguard our food and national sovereignty.
“I urge the government to scrutinise policies that affect our sovereign assets, ensuring that each motion raised, bill passed, and policy enacted does not gradually erode our independence.”
He further described the InnerCity Mission for Children’s humanitarian framework which provides 100% free schools, women empowerment schemes, food kitchens, and daily meal programme as a model that demonstrates the power of local, structured compassion.
“The framework of the InnerCity Mission for Children’s humanitarian strategy which has replicated the 100% free school, women empowerment scheme, free meals and kitchens presents to this Country, an important nexus for Public Private Partnership, where this framework can inform our national strategy to eradicate poverty and hunger, through successful home grown global institutions as this,” he said.
Dr. Adebayo concluded by calling for institutional support to scale the InnerCity Mission’s model nationwide.
“Finally, I commend the InnerCity Mission for Children for its remarkable work, and I envision a Nigeria where, enabled by law, an InnerCity Mission for Children project exists in every federal constituency, supported by budgetary allocations,” he said.
