The Effects of Hunger on the 2023 Elections in Nigeria
World Food Day has the mandate to promote worldwide awareness and action for individuals who suffer in the stiff grip of hunger (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021). Hunger is a sickness that limits the mind. Given the psychological implications of hunger, Mahatma Gandhi once said, “There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Hunger can redefine preferences and facilitate compromises—this has been evidenced in Nigerian society.
Furthermore, Nigeria is one of the epicentres of hunger in the world. It ranked 103rd out of the 116 countries that were assessed under the 2021 Global Hunger Index (Global Health Index, 2021). For this reason, we should be very concerned about how much this would mean in an election where candidates are ready to employ potent economic forces that have paid them in past elections to influence the direction of the votes from electorates. One of them is vote buying!
Asking a hunger-torn and poverty-stricken Nigerian voter to reject advances from money aiming to purchase his vote is almost like asking for too much. The cries of a man’s stomach always find a way to silence the calls of conscience. For such a man, the long-term implication of his decision means very little to his reason when compared to the short-term benefits. When hunger and poverty are used as a weapon by the ruling class, the decisions of the electorate give in to the economic situation and the demands to meet basic needs. However, 2023 can be different.
Finally, we must all agree not to allow politicians who only see voters as a means to an end to be successful in their selfish strategies hinged on taking advantage of the gullible and the vulnerable.
References
Global Health Index (2021). Nigeria. Retrieved from https://www.globalhungerindex.org/nigeria.html
International Institute for Sustainable Development (2021). World Food Day 2021. Retrieved from https://sdg.iisd.org/events/world-food-day-2021/
