The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised alarm that 420,000 Nigerian children could die this year from severe acute malnutrition if urgent action is not taken.
UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Wafaa Elfadil Saeed Abdelatef, issued the warning on Thursday during a visit to the agency’s Maiduguri Field Office.
According to her, Nigeria currently has 15 million malnourished children under five, with 3.5 million at risk of severe acute malnutrition. “Of these, 420,000 could die in 2025 alone if nothing changes.
Forty percent of under-fives are stunted—children who may never reach their full potential if we do not act now,” she said.
Abdelatef stressed the need for increased funding, locally produced nutritious foods, and expanded treatment centres to prevent deaths from hunger-related complications.
She added that the Northeast remains heavily affected by a humanitarian crisis, with over 4.5 million people in urgent need of aid.
The UNICEF representative also highlighted Nigeria’s education challenges, revealing that 18.3 million children are currently out of school—10.2 million of them at primary level and 8.1 million at junior secondary level.
“Every year, about 3.9 million fail to finish primary school, while 4.2 million drop out before completing junior secondary.
Only 27% of children aged 7–14 can read with comprehension, while 75% cannot solve basic mathematics,” she noted.
She explained that school enrollment and retention are key to delaying early marriage and empowering girls to make better health and family decisions.
On child survival and immunization, Abdelatef disclosed that Nigeria has the world’s highest number of zero-dose children, with more than 2.1 million one-year-olds yet to receive a single vaccine.
“Nearly one in three children remains unprotected against deadly but preventable diseases like measles, diphtheria, meningitis, and polio,” she warned.
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