1. The mass exodus of citizens of Niger into Northern Nigeria to flee the ensuing famine is not itself a bad phenomenon if staying in Southern Niger means certain death. It however will significantly reduc3e citizen participation in the anticipated reform elections. The miltary interventionist forces ought to embark on a sensitization campaign to inform the citizens of food aid and other infrastructure such as granaries and other industrial development that will head-off acute food shortages. I am reminded that a Malian sister town donated tons of cereal 2 weeks ago to tide their neighbour Nigerien town over the famine. I encourage the sister Nigerian government of Goodluck to begin delivering food aid and setting up distribution points inside of Niger immediately to the north to help reverse the flow of humans. Similar efforts are encouraged for ALgeria and other neighbours of Niger.

 

2. The interventionist military should deploy in the rural areas to protect persons and properties as they fight the famine together.

 

3. The interventionist military, the prospective government of Niger, and Niger's development partners and other NGO's must be encouraged to invest in diversified industry in ward off such devastating agricultural shortfalls like it is being soberly done in Mali and Benin. This is not the first time Mali and Niger's peoples have been faced with delimiting famine and food shortages. However due to worldwide economic stringency, it is exceptionally difficult this time and will only get worse. A stitch in time saves nine.

 

4. It is ominous, but this disaster will give the new government and the military in Niger to formulate and implement a rigorous disaster mitigation plan concentrating on border towns and villages. The other debilitating affects of hordes fleeing a disaster is the gradual but irreversible erosion of sovereignty and national integrity.

 

5. I encourage UEMOA, CENSAD, and the joint military Flintlock campaign to bear inordinately on the Niger part of the Sahelian belt to deny criminals from taking advantage of natural disasters such as this to destabilize the social fabric of Niger.

 

Allez people. Haruna. The notes below courtesy of BBC News:

 

Niger's hungry 'crossing into Nigeria'

In pictures: Niger's food crisis Reports from northern Nigeria say a growing number of people from Niger are crossing the border into Nigeria because of the food crisis at home. A BBC correspondent in the northern Nigerian state of Katsina says many women and children from Niger are seeking shelter with local families. Aid agencies say about seven million people in Niger - about half the population - are short of food. Niger's transitional government has started distributing food in the north. The BBC's Abba Muhammed Katsina in Katsina says some of the those arriving from Niger are selling water or tea to make money. There are also reports of women going from house to house begging for food, he says. A significant number of Nigeriens are also reported to have arrived in Sokoto State. The chairman of Nigeria's Senate foreign affairs committee, Jibril Aminu, told the BBC's Hausa Service that he would call a meeting when the chamber resumes next week to discuss the matter. Last month, John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, told the BBC Niger was threatened with total crop failure in some areas and the situation is worse than the 2005 crisis.

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