National Campaign on Right to Food in Nigeria
Right to food is the irreducible minimum degree of freedom from hunger a person requires to live a dignified and productive life. This implies that public authorities should deploy all policy in this direction, for every person to enjoy his or her fundamental right to food.
The Right to Food Campaign
Upon its relocation to Abuja in 2007, FIF quickly launched its flagship project in early 2008 without pump and pageantry, as the National Campaign on Right to Food in Nigeria. The main components of this comprised several objectives in a phased manner as follows:
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1. Phase 1 - Short term: 2008 – 2010 (3 Years): Inception activities for implementing the National Campaign on Right to Food –
1.1 Undertake rigorous intellectual stocktaking of the policy process in favour of food security and zero hunger.
1.2 Perform professional brokering and technical backup support services toward entrenching a right-to-food policy regime in the food system
1.3 Widely consult and collaborate with other members of the development community for the enthronement of a right-to-food regime in favour of the food system.
1.4 Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning.
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2 Phase 2 - Medium term: 2010-2023 (13 years): Policy and Legislative Advocacy activities towards the passage of the Right to Food Bill
2.1 Promote the passage of a Bill for an Act of the National Assembly for the constitutional recognition of food as a human right, thereby providing a strong legal framework for the enthronement of a Right to Food regime in the national food system.
2.2 Undertake continued policy advocacy and legislative advocacy
2.3 Provide technical brokering services to facilitate the campaign
2.4 Conduct policy action research to facilitate the campaign
3 Phase 3 – Long term: 2023 – 2027 (5 years): Implementation and Deployment activities towards the realization of the purpose of the Right to Food Act
3.1 Drive and promote the rollout of the new Right to Food Act for and sustain the sensitization of stakeholders and the general public
3.2 Empower the general public to generate demand for effective policy Implementation through the Right to Food Act
3.3 Troubleshoot the new Right to Food Act for its effective deployment at the instance of and for the benefit of people in protracted suffering from hunger and malnutrition.
3.4 Initiate and promote strategic public-interest litigations
3.5 Initiate, propose and promote concomitant legislative Bill for passage by NASS – RtF for mention in CAP 4 during the 10th Assembly
Trajectory of Right to Food Bill to become an Act
The journey started in 2010 (i.e. during the 6th Assembly 2007-2011), when FIF submitted a memorandum to the Constitution Amendment Committees of the two chambers of the National Assembly (NASS) The House of Representatives and The Senate. Titled “Memorandum to seek the recognition of food as a fundamental human right in the constitution” it was roundly rejected, even with the benefit of a formal response let alone offering reasons for the action of both committees.
Thus, in palpable agitation the memorandum was reduced to a Private Member’s Bill and tabled before the House of Representatives during the same 6th Assembly, for the same purpose –
Sixth Assembly (2007-2011) – The Bill was introduced at the instance of FIF, in the House of Representatives, seeking amendment of Chapter 2 of the constitution. But this attempt also failed at the First Reading stage before the tenure of that assembly expired in 2011.
Seventh Assembly (2011-2015) – Then the Bill was freshly introduced at the Senate, seeking amendment of Chapter 4 of the constitution and vigorously pursued in terms of legislative advocacy and increased commitment. However, it also failed at First Reading stages in both chambers, before the expiration of that assembly in 2015.
Eighth Assembly (2015-2019) - The two Bills reviewed and recast by FIF into a single legislative Bill, and simultaneously reintroduced at both the House of Representatives and Senate; at which time the Bill succeeded past the First Reading and Second Reading stages, thereby entering the committee stage in each chamber. However, the Bill failed again, so it was not tabled for the Third and final Reading in either chamber, before the tenure of that assembly expired in 2019.
Nineth Assembly (2019-2023) - the current version of the Bill was reintroduced, again by FIF in both chambers, following which it smoothly progressed in passage from First Reading to Second Reading, and to Committee/Third reading stages, successfully; and eventually received the blessing of the individual and joint committees of the Constitution review committees, thereby reaching the stage of voting. Voting took place in each chamber in March 2022 when it was overwhelmingly passed – House of Representatives (296 YES vs 2 NOs); and Senate (81 YES vs 5 NOs).
Next is to meet the mandatory requirement of a YES vote in 2/3 of the 36 States of the Federation (24 States) for the concurrence with the Bill, before seeking the assent of the President to sign it into law. Fortuitously, by December 2022, with vigorous advocacy work the Bill had received the YES votes of 27 States; so it subsequently received the presidential assent in March 2023, thereby becoming a full-fledge constitutional law of the land, with a long title and description respectively as follows:
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Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fifth Alteration, No. 34) Act 2023.
An Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Require the Government to Direct its Policy Towards Ensuring Right to Food and Food Security in Nigeria; and for Related Matters.