The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently revealed that the poverty level in the country is high in the North Central (48 per cent), North East (63 per cent) and North West (67 per cent). The NBS report also confirms World Bank’s assessment of the increasing poverty in the region and called for government’s urgent attention to redress the situation. According to NBS report, the three geo-political zones in the North lead in poverty figures, while an estimated 11 million people are also living with various forms of disabilities. The survey also shows that one in ten households in the North has at least one person living with disability, while the proportion of the entire population living with disabilities is six.
The situation is disheartening and unacceptable. It serves as a wake-up on the state governments to drastically reduce poverty in the north to avoid foreboding consequences. According to the World Bank, while the Southern Nigeria recorded significant drop in poverty since 2015, poverty in the 19 states in the North had been increasing, with the North West being the worst affected with 77.7 per cent of the population, North East, followed closely with 76.3 per cent, and North Central, 67.5 per cent of the population living in abject poverty. Overall, about 87 per cent of poor Nigerians live in the North.
Also, an estimated 64 per cent of all the poor in the North is reported to be living in rural areas, while 52 per cent in rural areas live below poverty line. According to the World Bank, anyone who lives below $1.90 per day is within the extreme poverty cycle. The reality is that more than half of Nigeria’s population currently lives below the extreme poverty line. In fact, the World Poverty Clock says that poverty reduction in Nigeria has been less responsive to economic growth despite government’s measures.
As at the last count, the Federal Government is reported to be spending only 0.6 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on social safety net programmes. Only 5.4 million people are estimated to have benefited from the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, according to data released recently by the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
Though no part of the country is free from poverty, the situation in the North is attributed to many factors, which include deepening income inequality and poor governance. The insurgency in the North East has really worsened the situation as it has affected farming and increased unemployment and poverty. Beyond that, population growth rate in the North, like many other parts of the country, is higher than the economic growth rate. Despite the nation’s oil wealth and abundant solid minerals, it is paradoxical that the number of poor people, especially in the north, is on the increase.
Since one of the goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030, the government must ensure that Nigeria eradicates poverty even before that deadline. To actualise this goal, the UN says that at least 90 people need to leave poverty line every minute. Nigeria is far from meeting this target. President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to lay the foundation to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years. Unfortunately, the government has not really done enough to meet this deadline. It is obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic may have worsened the nation’s economic situation. All the same, the government must be serious with its economic diversification effort. The haphazard manner gold is exploited by some people is not good for the economy. The government should manage gold and other solid minerals the same way it has controlled oil and gas resources. It is believed that deepening the economy through coordinated diversification will create opportunities for employment and growth of small businesses. There is no way the country can really develop when millions of Nigerians are within the extreme poverty cycle. The problem should no longer be treated with kid gloves.
