Abuja – Nearly 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger this year, including 3 million children at risk of severe malnutrition, the United Nations said on Thursday after global aid funding collapsed.
Speaking at the launch of the 2026 humanitarian plan in Abuja, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Malick Fall said Nigeria’s growing needs have outpaced the foreign-led aid model that has long dominated the country.
Conditions in the conflict-affected northeast remain critical, with civilians in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states facing escalating violence. Fall reported that more than 4,000 people were killed in the first eight months of 2025 due to suicide bombings and widespread attacks, matching the toll for all of 2023.
The UN plans to deliver $516 million this year to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people, down from 3.6 million in 2025 and roughly half the number reached the year before.
“These are not statistics. These numbers represent lives, futures and Nigerians,” Fall said.
He added that the UN must prioritise the most urgent interventions due to the decline in funding. Last year, the World Food Programme warned that millions could go hungry as resources ran out in December, forcing it to cut support for more than 300,000 children.
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