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Disbelief as Nigeria urges prayer to end food shortages
A call for all staff in Nigeria’s ministry of agriculture to pray to help the country achieve food security has caused controversy.
An internal memo from the head of the ministry’s HR department urges staff to attend a solemn prayer session and fast for the next three Mondays.
Some Nigerians have responded by questioning the government’s commitment to the task of bringing down the high cost of food.
A press release from the agriculture ministry on Saturday downplayed the issue, saying the call for prayers was not an official policy to tackle food insecurity but was intended to boost staff wellbeing.
“Just as the already existing monthly aerobic exercise and establishment of the gymnasium in the ministry are for physical fitness”, it continued, and “as the regular medical check-ups of staff are for their health”.
At least 4.4 million people in Nigeria do not have enough food, according to UN estimates, with the country experiencing its worst economic crisis in a generation following policy changes brought in by the new government since 2023.
The ever-increasing price of basic food staples was one of the triggers for nationwide cost-of-living protests last year. Yams, for example, quadrupled in price from one year to the next.
Critics see the appeal for divine intervention as proof that the government is shirking its responsibility to citizens and taking a fatalistic attitude.
But officials say they have taken numerous steps to tackle the crisis, including giving farmers more than 1,000 tractors and over two million bags of fertiliser.
Exasperated reaction to the call to prayer online has ranged from people saying the ministry’s leadership should be replaced with pastors and imams, to simply saying “Nigeria is a joke”.
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Police fire teargas and water cannon at protesters in Kenya as thousands take to the streets
Police dispersed peaceful protesters in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi on Wednesday. Festo Lang/CNNNairobi, KenyaCNN —
Kenyan police have fired teargas and water cannon to disperse protesters as thousands took to the streets to mark the one-year anniversary of anti-government demonstrations that left dozens dead.
The government regulator, the Communications Authority of Kenya, has ordered all television and radio stations in the country to stop broadcasting live coverage of protests of the youth-led march, which began Wednesday.
The government agency falsely claimed that live coverage of the demonstrations violated Kenyan laws, while threatening regulatory action for non-compliance with the directive. Many of the stations did not immediately cease broadcasting, including CNN affiliate Citizen TV.
Thousands of people took to Kenya’s streets in protest on June 25, such as in the capital city.
Thousands of people demonstrated in the capital, Nairobi, the coastal city of Mombasa, and other towns to mark the protest anniversary.
In Nairobi, roads leading to the Kenyan Parliament building and the president’s office were barricaded ahead of the demonstrations.
Last June, many were killed by security forces outside Parliament, drawing nationwide outrage.
A protester reacts in front of a burning barricade in downtown Nairobi on Wednesday. Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images
People protested on the one-year anniversary of deadly anti-tax demonstrations. Brian Inganga/AP
Security officers gather near a razor wire fence erected to block access to the Parliament buildings. Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
The demonstrations in 2024 forced the withdrawal of a controversial finance bill that raised taxes
However, many of Kenya’s youth are still enraged over several cases of alleged police brutality, including the death of a teacher in police custody and the shooting of an unarmed street vendor.
CNN witnessed police shooting live rounds in Nairobi to disperse peaceful protesters on Wednesday. Several of the demonstrators showed spent cartridges.
Demonstrators were also repelled with teargas and water cannon trucks in the capital – reminiscent of last year’s dramatic scenes.
Police officers during demonstrations in Kenya’s capital on June 25. Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
Citizen TV posted a video on X showing injured individuals being wheeled into a Nairobi hospital.
In Mombasa, some protesters were arrested and hauled into police trucks, another video showed.
One person is reported to have been killed during demonstrations in eastern Kenya’s Machakos County on Wednesday morning, according to Citizen TV.
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