Catholic Pontiff Pope Leo XIV; and former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have made a case for the poor and hungry in Africa, urging governments not to leave them behind.

This came on the heels of the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) warning that more than 33 million Nigerians could face severe hunger and malnutrition in 2026 if urgent and coordinated action is not taken.

The warning was issued on Friday in Abuja by the NRCS Secretary-General, Abubakar Kende, during the unveiling of the organisation’s Nutrition Advocacy Plan.

The event also featured the induction of Layla Othman, a Nigerian interior designer, writer, businesswoman and reality television presenter, as the society’s Nutrition Ambassador.

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Kende said the new advocacy plan was designed to mobilise stakeholders, galvanise public awareness, and set a clear path for tackling the worsening hunger and malnutrition crisis across the country. He added that the Red Cross was confident that with the support of philanthropists such as Othman, the organisation could scale up its interventions and expand its reach to vulnerable communities.

“The society hopes to make a significant impact in the fight against hunger and malnutrition with the help of its nutrition ambassador and other stakeholders,” he said.

In her remarks, Ms Othman expressed appreciation to the Red Cross for the recognition and pledged to support ongoing efforts to reduce hunger and promote proper nutrition across Nigeria.

Nigeria ranks 115th of 123 countries assessed in the 2025 Global Hunger Index (GHI), reflecting a hunger situation. The country’s GHI score of 32.8 is driven by the high proportion of undernourished people, with 19.9 per cent of the population lacking adequate food intake.

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Child nutrition indicators also remain troubling, as 33.8 per cent of children under five are stunted due to chronic malnutrition, while 11.6 per cent suffer from wasting, indicating acute under-nutrition.

POPE Leo decried poverty yesterday, urging world leaders and Catholics to reach out to marginalised people, as the Church celebrated a “Jubilee of the Poor”.

The United States-born pope has made social justice a key theme of his papacy, now in its sixth month since being made head of the world’s Catholics in May following the death of Pope Francis.

The Church, Leo said during a Mass at St Peter’s Basilica, is “still wounded by old and new forms of poverty”, but “hopes to be ‘mother of the poor, a place of welcome and justice”.

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Yesterday marked a special Jubilee of the Poor, one of many such celebrations during the holy year, which has drawn pilgrims from around the world. It fell on the World Day of the Poor, a yearly observance begun by Francis in 2017.

OBI, on his part, called on Nigerians to adopt bold, transformative reforms that could not only reshape the nation but also position Africa on a path from poverty to lasting prosperity. He delivered a keynote speech via Zoom at the Paul Alaje 2nd Colloquium on Saturday.

Speaking to academics, policymakers, and thought leaders gathered virtually in Abuja, Obi described Nigeria as a country rich in talent and resources but held back by decades of mismanagement and poor governance.

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“Africa has long been a continent of immense potential yet limited results. At the heart of this challenge is Nigeria, our most populous nation and largest economy,” Obi said.

He emphasised that prosperity does not occur by chance and that nations chart their futures through deliberate and disciplined action. Obi outlined five key pillars for achieving sustainable growth: shifting from consumption to production, prioritising human capital, strengthening governance and institutions, building a 21st-century economy driven by innovation and technology, and fostering national unity with a shared purpose.

Lagos State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the National Population Commission (NPC), and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), has launched an electronic birth registration initiative aimed at ensuring that every child born in the state is captured in the national database and granted legal identity.

Speaking at the launch, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu emphasised the importance of the initiative, which seeks to strengthen the digital registration of children under one year, as part of efforts to achieve universal birth registration across all local government areas.

Lagos currently leads the nation with about 94 per cent of children under five already registered. Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, described the initiative as a major step toward protecting children’s rights.

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“Birth registration is not a bureaucratic process but a vital tool that grants every child access to healthcare, education, and social protection. Without a birth certificate, a child remains invisible,” she said.

Lafoucriere commended the Lagos State Government for demonstrating leadership and commitment to child protection.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has given the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, a seven-day ultimatum to account for what it described as “missing or diverted N3 trillion of public funds” cited in the 2022 annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

SERAP said the allegations, published on September 9, 2025, point to major breaches of financial regulations and constitutional provisions.

It urged Cardoso to identify individuals responsible for the alleged diversions and hand them over to the ICPC and EFCC, as well as recover all funds involved.

In a letter dated November 15 and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said the Auditor-General’s findings “suggest grave violations of the public trust, the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, and anticorruption standards.”

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The group also warned that the alleged violations undermine public confidence in the apex bank.

“These violations have seriously undermined the ability of the CBN to effectively discharge its statutory functions and the public trust and confidence in the bank,” it said.

According to SERAP’s summary of the report, the Auditor-General queried the non-remittance of over N1.4tn operating surplus, failure to recover N629bn paid to “unknown beneficiaries” under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and the non-recovery of N784bn in overdue intervention loans.

One of the key portions of the Auditor-General’s report quoted by SERAP states that the CBN “failed to remit over N1 trillion [N1,445,593,400,000.00] of ‘the Federal Government’s portion of operating surplus’ into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account.”

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He also raised concerns over the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, noting that “the numbers of beneficiaries who collected the money are unknown.”

The report further questioned intervention spending, with the Auditor-General saying the bank spent “over N125 billion [N125,374,000,000.00] ‘on questionable intervention activities’” without supporting documents.

SERAP added that the CBN spent over N1.7bn on operational vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service, noting the Auditor-General’s remark that the spending was “unjustified because there is no connection with buying operational vehicles for the NIS and the objectives of the CBN.”

The organisation reminded the CBN of its constitutional obligations and insisted that Nigerians “have the right to know the whereabouts of the public funds.”

SERAP said it would take legal action if the bank fails to respond within seven days.