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By Tracy Moses
A policy expert and advocate for food sovereignty, Dr. Segun Adebayo, has called on the Federal Government to adopt the InnerCity Mission for Children’s humanitarian approach as a national framework for reducing hunger and poverty across Nigeria.
Dr. Adebayo made the call on Friday, October 17, during the Global Roundtable organized by the InnerCity Mission for Children in Ikeja, Lagos, held to mark the World Food Day and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. His keynote address was titled “The Role of Policy Research in Protecting Food Sovereignty.”
Highlighting the urgency of food insecurity, Dr. Adebayo described hunger as a fundamental crisis that threatens human survival and exposes nations to foreign control.
“Hunger is an existential issue and a matter of basic survival,” he said. “When food insecurity combines with poverty, it breeds desperation and leaves people open to manipulation. Sadly, many international aid organizations exploit this weakness, promoting foreign interests that undermine our national sovereignty under the pretext of humanitarian assistance.”
He cautioned that Nigeria’s overreliance on externally driven solutions could jeopardize its independence and long-term development.
“If we do not pursue local, sustainable approaches to tackling hunger and poverty, we will remain vulnerable to external policies that don’t always reflect our own priorities,” he warned. “The Plant Variety Protection Act of 2021 is a good example. It prevents farmers from saving or sharing certain seeds without authorization from mainly foreign seed corporations. These genetically engineered seeds, which cannot reproduce naturally, make farmers dependent on outside suppliers, giving others indirect control over our food system.”
Dr. Adebayo emphasized the importance of policy research in preserving Nigeria’s sovereignty and ensuring that all laws and programs align with national interests.
“Researchers and policy analysts must be proactive in guiding lawmakers and government agencies,” he said. “Every piece of legislation, motion, or policy must be examined critically to ensure it enhances, rather than erodes, our national independence.”
Commending the InnerCity Mission for Children, Dr. Adebayo applauded its integrated humanitarian model, covering free education, women empowerment, and community feeding schemes, as a successful example of how local innovation can drive social change.
“The InnerCity Mission’s initiatives, ranging from tuition-free schools and empowerment programs for women to community kitchens and daily meal support, demonstrate a practical model of structured compassion,” he noted. “This framework provides an ideal platform for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) through which government can collaborate with successful homegrown organizations to address hunger and poverty more effectively.”
Dr. Adebayo concluded by urging the government to institutionalize and scale up the InnerCity Mission model nationwide.
“I commend the InnerCity Mission for its outstanding work,” he said. “I look forward to a Nigeria where, through legislation and budgetary support, an InnerCity Mission project exists in every federal constituency, sustained by law and adequately funded. May God bless this vision and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”