The United Nations is set to appeal for $910 million this week to tackle the worsening humanitarian crisis in northeastern Nigeria.
The region has been plagued by an Islamist insurgency since 2009 and was further devastated by flooding last year.
According to UN documents, 7.8 million people require assistance in the affected states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe, with the UN aiming to support 3.6 million of them.
This crisis is the most expensive in West and Central Africa, surpassing those in Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Nigeria is also struggling with a cost of living crisis, driven by skyrocketing food prices and inflation, which has reached its highest level in nearly three decades.
The UN has warned that Nigeria’s northeast risks becoming a forgotten crisis, as global attention shifts to other crises like Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan.
A joint report by the government and UN in November highlighted the country’s severe hunger crisis, with over 30 million people expected to face food insecurity this year.
President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms have been criticized for exacerbating Nigeria’s economic woes. However, he maintains that these reforms will ultimately put the economy on a stronger path to growth.
